﻿30 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  should 
  naturally 
  expect 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  grilse 
  early 
  in 
  July 
  in 
  considerable 
  

   numbers; 
  but 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  weirs 
  are 
  often 
  kept 
  in 
  operation 
  until 
  the 
  

   middle 
  or 
  last 
  of 
  July, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  even 
  through 
  August, 
  when 
  they 
  

   take 
  menhaden 
  ; 
  but 
  no 
  grilse 
  enter 
  them. 
  During 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   summer 
  the 
  water 
  at 
  the 
  several 
  falls 
  between 
  Bangor 
  and 
  Oldtown 
  is 
  

   generally 
  at 
  a 
  low 
  stage, 
  and 
  the 
  attempt 
  of 
  grilse, 
  even 
  in 
  small 
  num- 
  

   bers, 
  to 
  ascend 
  the 
  river 
  could 
  hardly 
  fail 
  to 
  be 
  frequently 
  detected. 
  

   A 
  similar 
  state 
  of 
  things 
  exists 
  in 
  the 
  Kennebec. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  escaping 
  

   the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  the 
  great 
  run 
  of 
  grilse, 
  which 
  is 
  so 
  prominent 
  a 
  fea- 
  

   ture 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  salmon 
  of 
  northern 
  rivers, 
  is 
  almost 
  entirely 
  

   wanting 
  in 
  the 
  rivers 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  It 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  follows 
  from 
  

   this 
  that 
  our 
  salmon 
  do 
  not 
  pass 
  through 
  the 
  same 
  phases 
  of 
  growth, 
  or 
  

   that 
  the 
  growth 
  is 
  more 
  rapid, 
  but 
  merely 
  that 
  when 
  in 
  the 
  grilse 
  stage 
  

   tliey 
  generally 
  lack 
  the 
  instinct 
  that 
  impels 
  their 
  more 
  northern 
  relatives 
  

   to 
  seek 
  fresh 
  water. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  characteristics 
  of 
  grilse, 
  as 
  ascertained 
  in 
  the 
  rivers 
  they 
  

   frequent, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  sufficient 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  they 
  exhibit 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  degree 
  

   the 
  characteristics 
  of 
  the 
  adult; 
  that 
  the 
  main 
  external 
  differences 
  

   are 
  a 
  shorter 
  head, 
  slenderer 
  form, 
  and 
  a 
  difference 
  in 
  the 
  color 
  and 
  

   markings; 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  remarkably 
  active 
  and 
  agile, 
  leaping 
  to 
  great 
  

   heights; 
  that 
  the 
  male 
  is 
  sexually 
  well 
  developed 
  and 
  mates 
  with 
  the 
  

   adult, 
  but 
  that 
  the 
  female 
  is 
  immature, 
  and 
  that, 
  like 
  the 
  adult, 
  they 
  

   abstain 
  from 
  food 
  and 
  consequently 
  lose 
  flesh 
  during 
  their 
  stay 
  in 
  fresh 
  

   water. 
  

  

  The 
  next 
  stage 
  of 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  iish 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  adult 
  salmon, 
  and 
  this 
  

   is 
  the 
  stage 
  at 
  which, 
  with 
  the 
  exceptions 
  indicated 
  above, 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  

   salmon 
  first 
  ascends 
  the 
  rivers 
  of 
  tlie 
  United 
  States. 
  Assuming 
  that 
  it 
  

   relinquished 
  the 
  rivers 
  for 
  the 
  sea 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  two 
  years, 
  being 
  then 
  

   a 
  smolt, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  absent 
  two 
  years, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  four 
  years 
  or 
  a 
  little 
  

   more 
  since 
  it 
  burst 
  the 
  shell. 
  This 
  estimate 
  of 
  age 
  is 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  

   observations 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  Massachusetts 
  commissioners 
  of 
  fisheries 
  

   on 
  the 
  return 
  of 
  salmon 
  to 
  the 
  Merrimac 
  River, 
  which 
  plainly 
  estab- 
  

   lished 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  entire 
  period 
  between 
  the 
  hatching 
  of 
  the 
  fry 
  

   and 
  the 
  return 
  of 
  the 
  adult 
  to 
  the 
  rivers 
  is 
  about 
  four 
  years. 
  Whether 
  

   the 
  same 
  rule 
  holds 
  in 
  other 
  New 
  England 
  rivers 
  can 
  not 
  as 
  yet 
  be 
  

   established, 
  owing 
  to 
  deficient 
  data, 
  but 
  the 
  presumption 
  is 
  in 
  favor 
  of 
  

   that 
  conclusion. 
  In 
  Canadian 
  rivers 
  the 
  same 
  period 
  of 
  growth 
  appears 
  

   to 
  be 
  the 
  universal 
  rule, 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  fiir 
  north 
  as 
  the 
  St. 
  Lawrence 
  River. 
  

   Statistics 
  of 
  the 
  catch 
  of 
  salmon 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  in 
  eighteen 
  separate 
  

   districts, 
  showing 
  many 
  fluctuations, 
  exhibit 
  a 
  remarkable 
  tendency 
  of 
  

   the 
  figures 
  to 
  arrange 
  tliemselves 
  in 
  periods 
  of 
  five 
  years; 
  thus, 
  the 
  

   year 
  1875 
  having 
  been 
  a 
  year 
  of 
  small 
  catch 
  of 
  salmon, 
  it 
  also 
  appears 
  

   in 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  districts 
  that 
  the 
  next 
  year 
  of 
  abnormally 
  small 
  catch 
  

   was 
  1880. 
  Now, 
  the 
  eggs 
  laid 
  in 
  1875 
  would 
  hatch 
  in 
  1876, 
  and 
  the 
  

   young 
  hatched 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  would 
  be 
  grown 
  in 
  1880, 
  requiring 
  thus 
  

   four 
  years 
  from 
  hatching 
  to 
  maturity, 
  just 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  Merrimac. 
  It 
  

   would 
  seem 
  no 
  other 
  interpretation 
  can 
  be 
  put 
  upon 
  the 
  statistics. 
  

  

  