80 KENDALL: NEW ENGLAND SALMONS. 



1869 the scarcity of salmon is indicated by the fact that the appearance of a single two 

 or three pound salmon, on June 2, at Manchester, was considered of sufficient import- 

 ance to note in the State Fish Commission report (New Hampshire 1869, p. 646) and 

 that another was caught a short distance below that place in 1870 (New Hampshire 

 1870, p. 7). But a few years later, improvements in the fishways at the previously men- 

 tioned dams havmg been made, salmon began to appear in the upper waters again, 

 particularly in the Pemigewasset, in considerable numbers. 



The report of 1881-1882 (New Hampshire 1882, p. 3) says: 'Your commissioners take 

 satisfaction in reporting that in no year since the opening of the Merrimack river for the 

 ascent of migratory fish have so many salmon passed the fishways at Lawrence and 

 Lowell, and have reached the waters of New Hampshire, as in the past year. Lawrence 

 is the only place at which anything like a fair estimate can be made of the number of 

 fish which pass through the fishways. At this point the water is shut off for about twenty 

 minutes twice a day during the run of fish.' 



The Commissioner of New Hampshire m his report dated May 11, 1885 (New Hamp- 

 shire 1885, p. 3), stated that the spring run of salmon was about the same as that of the 

 year before. The water was again so low in September that none of the fall run, which 

 was usually large, reached Plymouth. The salmon taken this year (1884) were all large 

 fish weighing from 15 to 35 pounds. 



The report of EUiot B. Hodge, dated June 1, 1888 (New Hampshire 1889, p. 3-4), 

 saj^s : 'It gives me pleasure to report that there has been a larger number of salmon in 

 the river this season than any year since the Lawrence dam was built. Forty salmon 

 were taken in the fish ponds, from which a large number of eggs were taken. Many more 

 salmon would have been taken had not the heavy July rains kept the river so high that 

 it was impossible to use nets for nearly two weeks during the heaviest part of the run.' 

 'The largest fish taken was a female, forty inches in length, weight twenty-four pounds; 

 the smallest a grilse, weight four and one-half pounds. This was the first grilse taken in 

 the nets since the station was established.' 



For a few years the superintendent of the dam at Lawrence made observations upon 

 the fish occurring in the fishway. The observations are pubUshed in the reports of the 

 New Hampshire and Massachusetts Commissions covering the years 1877 to 1887 both 

 inclusive. It is stated that the water was shut off from the fishway, for the purpose of 

 ascertaining what was in it, twice a day up to the 5th of July, and after that but once 

 a day. The closing of the fishway occupied about 15 minutes each time, leaving 23 hours 

 out of the 24 during which nothing was known of the kinds or number of fish passing 

 through it. As the salmon did not loiter but passed quickly over, it was deemed fair to 

 conclude that hundreds passed up unnoticed, and this conclusion was considered to be 

 confirmed by well-authenticated reports of large numbers seen at Manchester as well 

 as all along the Pemigewasset. 



In the following table the data regarding salmon observed as reported in the several 

 reports are shown. It was not stated how the weights of the fish were arrived at, that 

 is, whether the fish were weighed or the weights estimated. 



