8 GEORGE V SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a A- 1918 



IX 



REPORT ON AFFECTED SALMON IN THE MIRAMICHI RIVER, NEW 



BRUNSWICK. 



(By A. G. Huntsman, B.A., M.B., F.K.S.C, etc., Curator of the Biological Station, 



St. Andrew's, New Brunswick.) 



In the early part of October, 1915, Mr. G. J. Desbarats, the Deputy Minister of 

 the Naval Service, requested that the Biological Board arrange an investigation of 

 a disease which had broken out among the salmon in the Northwest Miramichi river. 

 I was instructed to proceed to the Miramichi hatchery. South Esk, New Brunswick, 

 examine the conditions there, investigate the possibility of organisms other than bac- 

 teria being responsible for the disease, and arrange for the shipment of material for 

 bacteriological examination to Principal F. C. Harrison, of Macdonald College, Ste. 

 Anne de Bellevue, Que. 



The hatchery was visited on October 11 and 12. It is located near the mouth of a 

 small stream which empties into the Northwest branch of the Miramichi river, a few 

 miles from Newcastle. Mr. Donald Morrison, the local inspector of fisheries, and Mr. 

 Wm. Sheasgreeu, the officer in charge of the hatchery, gave every assistance. 



Down the stream from the hatchery is a pond for retaining the salmon previous 

 to the stripping at spawning time. It consists of a portion of the stream enclosed by 

 boards, with spaces between for the circulation of the water. The water is changed 

 regularly by the action of the tide and by the current of the stream. The level of the 

 Avater in the pond is prevented from falling too low by a dam across the stream below 

 the pond. 



A large proportion of the fish in the pond had been officially reported to be visibly 

 affected, and I found w^hite patches of fungus with extensive ulcerations in the centre 

 of many of the patches in the worst cases. The head, the back, and the tail were the 

 parts that in most instances showed evidence of the disease. In the earlier stages the 

 affected parts were seen to be covered with a greyish thin film of fungus, which was 

 easily rubbed off. If the fish were removed from the water these greyish patches could 

 scarcely be seen. The fish that were in the worst condition were sluggish, came inshore 

 into the shallow water, or floated near the surface with the fins exposed. Frequently 

 the caudal fin was partly out of the water and the head very low, the fish floating at an 

 angle approaching the vertical. 



Mr. Sheasgreen gave the following information on October 12 : — 



" During the latter part of September small marks, chiefly on the head, were 

 noticed on a large proportion of the fish in the pond. A few marked fish (those 

 with definite wounds) had been received from the fishermen. It has been the 

 custom whenever an opportunity presented to take these marked fish from the 

 pond and bury them. The records show that twenty-two fish were taken out 

 from the 18th to the 21st of September, three on the 25th, and five on the 28th. 

 On the outbreak of the disease (the last of September) at first only dead fish 

 were removed, but later badly infected living ones as well. Beginning with 

 September 30, fish were received every day, never less than seven, and once as 

 many as thirty-eight. The dead fish were all well covered with the fungus. On 

 October 6 we began to reject some of the fish brought in by the fishermen, who 

 by this time were noticing the fungvis on some of the fish that they were catch- 

 ing. Of the fish brought in there were no large number badly marked previous 

 38a— 12 169 



