332 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 7. — THE ADULT SALMON. 



(7 a.) The size of the salmon. — We come now to the adult fish, which 

 is the only form kaown to most of our fishermen. When in prime con- 

 dition, they range in weight from 6 or 7 pounds upward. In the 

 Penobscot and Kennebec, and I think in other Maine rivers, this mini- 

 mum is rarely met with. In the Penobscot very few weigh less than 

 9 pounds, ^ud the most common size is from 10 to 12. The maximum 

 cannot be definitely fixed. Salmon of 30 pounds are rare, not one out 

 of a thousand weighing so much ; but occasionly one of 40 pounds or 

 more is caught. In different rivers there is a variation in size. Those 

 of the Grand Cascapediac, in Canada, are believed to be the largest of 

 their species in America. Those of the Restigouche are large, those of 

 the Miramichi smaller, and those of the JSfepissiguit smaller still. In 

 the Clearwater, a small tributary of the Miramichi, they never exceed 

 6 or 8 pounds.* 



(7 h.) The migration up the rivers. — Salmon ascend the rivers of Maine 

 in April, May, June, July, and August. Arranged according to the 

 comparative abundance of salmon in them, these months would stand 

 thus, viz : June, July, May, April. August ; but perhaps in some cases 

 May and July will change places. A great majority, perhaps two-thirds 

 of the salmon, enter the rivers in June. Outside of the five months 

 mentioned there are very few salmon ascending, but, judging from the 

 specimens caught, it seems pretty certain that salmon in prime condition 

 are running in from the sea every month in the year. They have been 

 taken in a gill-net set for them at Buck's Ledge, near Orrington, and 

 the smelt-nets at Bucksport and Winterport take now and then some 

 prime salmon, together with somekelts, in January and February. Off 

 the coast of Nova Scotia, Dr. Gilpin has remarked that there is a large 

 catch of prime salmon in November. 



All the adult salmon that enter our rivers in early summer yield ma- 

 ture eggs and milt in the ensuing fall. Nearly 700 specimens caught 

 in June and early July and kept at Bucksport for breeding until fall 

 afforded not a single exception to this rule. The salmon taken outside 

 the rivers in the summer appear to be in the same condition as those in 

 the rivers, and are probably bound on the same errand. The examina- 

 tion of a single specimen, caught at Western Pond Island, the outside 

 limit of the salmon-fishing on the east side of Penobscot Bay, disclosed 

 the existence of spawn in the same stage of developments as in the 

 salmon taken in the river ; and it is a well-known fact that the salmon 

 caught in either bay or river have empty stomachs, a sufficient proof 

 that they have left their feeding-grounds, and ground for the conclusion 

 that they are all on their way to the breeding-grounds. 



As a general rule, the early migratory salmon are the largest. An 

 average for the several months, from April to July, at least, shows a 

 * Statement of E. M. StilweU. 



