FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. I9 



night and returning to salt water before day renders them lia- 

 ble to capture both ways, and is a habit that, so far as my knowl- 

 edge extends, is shared by no other anadromous fish, and is not 

 mentioned in any work that I have seen. The fish is well 

 worth protection, for it is a favorite winter fish about New 

 York. It will live in fresh water, and is said to have bred for 

 some years in in the lakes of Vermont, where it is reported that 

 its edible qualities are generally unknown, and it is only used 

 as a bait fish. The fish is found in fresh water in New Hamp- 

 shire and in Sweden, also in Lake Champlain, but whether it 

 remains in the lake all year or not I cannot say. If they do not 

 remain there the fish go higher up in this case than in any that 

 I know of. On the coasts of New York and New Jersey, 

 twenty miles is about the limit of their ascent. 



The first report of the Fish Commissioners of Maine, 1867, 

 under a heading of " Fresh Water Smelt," page 25, says : 

 "Smelts are scattered all over the State. It seems probable 

 that we have more than one species, Whether either of them 

 is identical with the salt water smelt we cannot say, but the 

 resemblance is very close. In several localities they attain a 

 large size. Those of Harrison are said to exceed half a pound 

 in weight, and those of Belgrade to measure fourteen inches in 

 length." In the second report of the Maine Commission they 

 they say, page 29: " It is said that at the mouth of a small stream, 

 somewhere above Bay Bridge (on the Androscoggin), where 

 smelts are accustomed to run in the spring to spawn, and where 

 it has been the custom to dip for them, for several years a seine 

 has been used, and tons of them were taken out when nearly 

 worthless for food. Many were shipped to New York and com- 

 manded a price that hardly paid for transportation. This is an 

 abuse which should be stopped. We think no smelts should be 

 taken during the spawning season — say from April ist to June 

 I St. Enough can be taken in the fall and winter, when they are 

 in good condition, and it is wonderful that they can stand the 

 draft that is then made on their numbers." In their third re- 

 port, 1869, the Commissioners say: "The impression has been 

 quite general that the smelt fishery is overdone, and unless 

 some radical measures are taken, it will soon fall into as great 



