150 DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVAL SERVICE 



8 GEORGE V, A. 1918 



until the spawning time comes around. It happened that the Superintendent 

 of Fisheries was in the Maritime Provinces when this information was received, 

 and I had him instructed to visit the pond and look into the matter. 



There were on Tuesday of this week somewhat over 2,400 salmon in the 

 pond, between 300 and 400 of which were affected. The disease takes the form 

 of a fungus. The first indication is the removal of the scales from the back 

 of the neck. They are evidently eaten off. Then a white fungus develops, which 

 rapidly spreads down the head to the eyes and makes the fish blind. It sub- 

 sequently appears on different parts of the body and on the extremities of the 

 fins and tail. The fish diseased were beginning to die, which indicates that they 

 will not last more than a week or ten days after they become affected. 



An examination of the pond revealed no reason for any unhealthful con- 

 ditions. Neither did there seem to be anything through which the water was 

 flowing before it reached the pond to cause it to be unhealthful. Some fish that 

 were in the towing pontoons which had recently been taken from the fishermen's 

 nets to be placed in the pond, were examined, and on a few of them the first 

 stage of the disease above referred to was in evidence. 



As it seemed possible that the scales might have been removed from the fish 

 striking the top of the pontoons, one of the fishermen's nets was visited and 

 when lifted there were three salmon and a grilse in it. Two of the salmon were 

 large females weighing about fifteen pounds, and they were perfectly healthy, 

 but the third, a small male weighing 5 or 6 pounds, was apparently affected, as 

 the scales were eaten away from the back of the head and he had an unhealthy 

 appearance. 



It would appear from the above that an epidemic has broken out amongst 

 the fish in the river, and in view of the importance of the matter it is desirable 

 that a capable bacteriologist should be immediately sent to the pond to thoroughly 

 investigate the whole matter. I may add that this pond has been in operation 

 for many years and in no instance in the past has any such trouble been experi- 

 enced. The tide enters the pond, and at each high tide the water is slightly 

 brackish. 



I shall be obliged if you will give the matter immediate consideration and 

 wire me whether the Biological Board can at once arrange to send a properly 

 qualified man to investigate the matter. If it cannot, it may be possible for 

 the Department to arrange with that of Agriculture to send an officer from the 

 laboratory at the Experimental Farm here. 



N.B. — Since writing the above a report has just been received from the 

 officer in charge of the Port Arthur hatchery, in which he states that a disease, 

 apparently of a similar nature, has broken out amongst salmon trout in the 

 Nipigon river. This is the first time that the department has heard of any such 

 disease there. 



A few days later I received a statement from Dr. Huntsman, the main points of 

 which are contained in his report on this outbreak of salmon disease, now being 

 published. 



On the arrival of the specimens of fish sent by Dr. Huntsman, they were immedi- 

 ately examined. They arrived in good condition, packed in ice, and were opened in 

 the usual way. After examination of the organs and the flesh near the abraded spots 

 or where the fungus was growing, pieces of the various organs were excised with a 

 sterile knife, and cut open with a second sterile knife, and a portion of the pulp, etc., 

 of the organ removed by means of a sterile platinum loop. In a few cases pieces of 

 the organs were taken out, seized with the forceps and scorched in the flame, and then 

 cut open with a sterile knife and a portion removed to sterile petri dishes. In all 

 cases the material was mixed with beef peptone salt-water agar, and from the various 



