ATKINS THE SALMON AND ITS AETIFICIAL CULTURE. 313 



bay thau iu 1833. This is caused mainly by the aocumulatiou of saw- 

 dust, which has not only moved the low- water line farther out, but has 

 greatly lessened the depth of the water for a long distance outside of 

 this line. 



13. TABULAR STATEMENT OF THE CAPTURE OF SALMON ON THE 



PENOBSCOT RIVER. 



The following statement of the number of salmon caught in 1873 is 

 based, for the most part, on the statements of the fishermen themselves •> 

 the number caught in each weir and net having been reported iu nearly 

 every case : 



Table Xll.— Statement of salmon caught in Penohscot Bay and Biver in 1873. 



District. 



Implements. 



ISTo.of 

 salmon. 



Eocliport to iSTortliport 



Long Island and Western Pond Island. 



Castine and Penobscot 



Orland 



Searsport and Stockton 



Verona, ( Wetmore Island) 



Bncksport, Prospect, and Winterport. 

 Bangor to Oldtown 



Totals. 



Ponnd-nets; 27 gangs, comprising 43 hooks 



Pound-nets; 14 gangs, comprising 17 hooks and 

 1 weir. 



26 weirs 



7 weirs 



3.5 weirs, 1 gang-net 



30 weirs 



15 weirs 



Drift-nets, numher unknown 



114 weirs, 42 gangs of nets, &c. 



1,561 

 1,008 



2,143 



378 

 3,377 

 2,468 



771 

 1,984 



13. 690 



Nothing is known of the number of salmon caught above Oldtown. A 

 due allowance for this omission, and for certain iishing-statious where 

 it was impossible to obtain correct statements, would probably swell the 

 total to 15,000 salmon. 



In comparison with the yield of many preceding years, this is a very 

 large increase; though unfortunately, in the absence of data for an exact 

 estimate, no very jjrecise statement can be made as to the degree of in- 

 crease. At Eockport, the past season was the best since 1868, the catch 

 of four nets being 300 salmon in 1868, 130 in 1870, and 190 in 1873.* In 

 Camden and Lincolnville it was better than usual. On Long Island the 

 catch was one-third above the average.t The two weirs in Searsport 

 were comparatively unsuccessful, while the single one on the western 

 side of Sear's Island did much better than usual. On the west side of 

 Cape Jellison, as has been already stated, salmon were caught in greater 

 numbers than usual, while some of the weirs on the south side caught 

 fewer. | In Castine Harbor the catch was far below the average, while 

 from this point up the east shore of the bay it was considerably above 

 average. In all parts of the river, except here and there a weir, the in- 

 crease was very marked. In the vicinity of Bucksport it is commonly 



* Statement of J. Mclutire. 



t Statement of Benjamin Ryder. 



t Statement of James M. Treat. 



