REPOET OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXIX 



pendetl in 1877, and tliis intermission continued in 1878, it being thought 

 desirable to wait for evidence that the work had been successful. 



I am happy to say that during the present year the indications of suc- 

 cess have been so unquestionable as to warrant the re-establishment of 

 the Bucksport station, and it is hoped that the result for 1879 will show 

 a good progress in this connection. It may be stated in general terms 

 that nearly every stream on the Atlantic coast as far south as the 

 Susquehanna in which young salmon were introduced as far back as 

 1874 and 1875 has proved to contain adult spawning fish in 1878. 



An exact statement of the catch of salmon in the rivers along the 

 coast is impossible, but the daily newspapers have been filled with the 

 records of capture from Denny's Eiver, in Eastern Maine, to the Susque- 

 hanna, in Maryland. In addition to this the correspondence of the Com- 

 mission contains numerous references to captures of salmon, some of 

 which I will proceed to present. 



The increase in the rivers of Maine, although decided, has not been 

 much, a matter of specific statement, as the salmon have never been en- 

 tirely absent from its waters, and consequently their occurrence in the 

 rivers excited less remark.* The case was quite difterent, however, in 

 the Merrimack, where salmon of late years have only been seen at very 

 rare intervals. As the result of the action of the commissioners of 

 Maine and Xew Hampshire, large numbers of salmon were observed 

 while ascending the fishway in the dam at Lowell for the purpose of 

 performing the function of spawning in the headwaters of the rivers, 

 especially in the Pemigewasset, where many young were afterward seen. 



For the details of these runs of salmon I refer to the extracts from the 

 reports of the commissioners of Massachusetts and New Hampshire 

 given in the Appendix. 



In October, 1878, a salmon weighing 11 pounds was caught in Narra- 

 gansett Bay, between Narragansett and Wickford. Other instances of 

 captures in the same waters are recorded. 



The weirs in Martha's Vineyard Sound, especially at Menemsha, se- 

 cured a considerable number of salmon, most of which were sent to the 



* lu connection "witli tiie subject of salmon in Maine, it should be borne in mind that 

 the fish from which the eggs are taken at the Penobscot or Bucksport station are not 

 destroyed by the operation, but are returned to the water uninjured. Mr. Atkins has 

 been in the habit of affixing a xjlatinum tag to each fish before returning it to the 

 water, bearing a number corresponding to a record of the date of capture, the weight 

 before spawning, the weight of the eggs taken, and the weight of the fish when restored 

 to the Avater. Mr. Atkins found several instances of a second capture of the same 

 fish. Thus he records No. 768 as having been strii)ped on the 1st of November, 1875. 

 It then Aveighed 21 pounds 7 ounces, and yielded 5 pounds 7 ounces of eggs. When 

 turned back into the river it weighed 15 pounds. The same fish was recaptured at 

 Liucolnville, Me., on the 14th of June, 1877, weighing 26 pounds. 



Another fish. No. 1010, which on the 9th of November, 1875, weighed 18 i^ounds 2 

 ounces, had 4 pounds 10 ou^nces of eggs, and when dismissed weighed 13^ f)ounds, was 

 retaken, also near Liucolnville, on the 13th of June, 1877, weighing 30^ poiinds, thus 

 showing an increase of 12^ pounds in two years. 



