THE ATLANTIC SALMON 



By Chas. G. Atkins, 

 U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, East viand, Me. 



The Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) occupies a very 

 prominent place in the ranks of the species that have 

 been the subjects of artificial propagation. Inhabiting 

 naturally nearly or quite every river tributary to the At- 

 lantic, north of the 43d degree of latitude on the Euro- 

 pean side and of the 40th degree on the American side, it 

 has attracted attention of fish culturists in those coun- 

 tries w^here modern fish culture had its birth and has 

 been most earnestly pursued. Its culture has been pur- 

 sued in all the countries of northern and western Europe 

 as far south as France and on the western side in Canada 

 and the United States. 



The life history of the Atlantic salmon has been much 

 studied, and the following may be considered as well es- 

 tablished : Passing the winter and early spring within the 

 egg in a fresh water stream and very slowly developing, 

 it bursts the shell in the spring, early or late, according 

 to location, and then passes a year or two in its native 

 river, attaining at the end of two years, a length of about 

 8 inches. It then goes down to the sea, where it stays 

 several years, returning to its native river when full 

 grown, weighing 8 lbs. or more, to deposit its eggs. In 

 the rivers of Canada, as in those of the British Islands, 

 great numbers of the salmon come in when they weigh 

 only from 2 to 6 lbs., at which stage they are termed 

 "grilse," but they rarely enter the rivers of Maine at this 

 stage of growth. 



The "run" of salmon in the Penobscot river begins in 

 April and continues through May and June, and a few 

 come in in July, or even later. If able to pass the obstruc- 

 tions in this river they ascend to various distances, many 

 of them more than a hundred miles from tide water, and 

 lie there until late in October, when they begin to spawn, 

 the female digging holes in the gravelly bottom of the 

 rapids and covering the eggs with gravel. A male at- 



