SALMON TAKEN IN CASCO BAY. 



29 



ing for two reasons : They show a fishery, which though small, adds considerably to the 

 returns to the fishermen, as salmon are only incidental to the principal object of the 

 fishery but bring a good price in the market. They show also that salmon of various 

 sizes are present in the shorewise waters in varying numbers throughout the summer 

 months, although the localities of capture may be a long way from accessible spawning 

 places. 



TABLE 2. 



Total Amount of Salmon Caught by Ti-aps or Pounds, Drift-gillnets and Purse Seines in Casco Bay and 



Vicinity, Maine, as Brought to the Port of Portland. 



'Recorded as single fish. 



The presence of salmon in the Casco Bay region, not only in the summer, but to some 

 extent in other months gives rise to the question of their origin. Are they naturally bred 

 or the product of the Craig Brook hatchery? If they are naturally bred in what streams 

 were they hatched? It is possible that there are some limited spawning places in the 

 lower Kennebec. There is one tidal stream connecting a small fresh-water pond on SmaU 

 Point with the Kennebec which a few salmon are said to ascend. If they do spawn here, 

 the known spawning places are very Umited in both number and area. The writer has 

 seen an occasional salmon among the alewives in May at the dam in a smaU stream at 

 Woolwich connecting Nequassett Pond with the Kennebec River. There may be other 

 smaU streams affording very Limited spawning places between this region and the 

 Penobscot River, also between the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Bay. If there are, 

 there is no definite information concerning them. Perhaps in the aggregate such creeks 

 and small streams may be responsible for the Casco Bay Fish, but this is very doubtful. 



It has been demonstrated by marking experiments that at least some salmon wander 

 a long way from their birthplaces. The distance traveled by one of the fish marked by 

 Dahl suggests the possibility that the salmon occurring on the western coast of Maine 



