MANIPULATION OF SALMON EGGS 



n\ (11 \i;li:s <;. atkixs. kas'I' oitLWD. maixk. 



It is iiiv |nii'|i(is(' ill ihis papci- lo st;itc oiilv tlic methods in 

 \(),mu' at tlir stations in Maine that have heeii uiide]- my per- 

 sonal (lireetion. of whieh the primary one i> at ('raiu' llrook in 

 the town of Orhind and county (d' I laiico.-k. The kiiuU handled 

 have heeii the sea-^uoiii-' Atlantic salmon. Salnin sahir and its 

 landlocked variety, Sn/mo suhir si'lHUji). Se\eral specie> of trout 

 haw heeii i)ropa,u'ati'd and their cii'.ii's lia\'e heeii handled in suh- 

 stantially the same way. It will tlieixd'oi'e ]tlace the methoils 

 fully het'ort- you. if I conline myself to the work on the sea-a'oin,!;- 

 Atlantic salmon. Thei-e has heeii some clianue in the apparatus 

 since the ince|)tion of this work in is; 1. hut for now s(»nie twi'iity 

 years apparalus and methods lia\c hecn practically uiichan^'t'd. 



The eggs of Atlantit- salmon are all taken from adult lisli 

 collected hy purcluise from the commercial lislieniieii in ami 

 about the mouth of the I'enobscot river during the months of 

 ^lay and -lune each year. All these fish are fresh from tin' oci-au 

 and are in prime condition, smooth, bright and tat. It heiiig 

 iiii]>racticahle to distinguish the sexes at that season id' the year, 

 no attention is paid to that matter in colk'ctions, nor i> any dis- 

 tinction made as to size. But it always turns out that the ma- 

 jority of the salmoii collected are females and vvhik' the size 

 ranges froui eight to thirty pounds weight (rarely outsidi' of 

 these dimensions aho\c (U- helow ) the mean weight is somewhere 

 hetween 1 1 ' ;_- and ViYz pounds. 'Jdie salmon collected are cou- 

 N'eyed in lloaling cars from the places of capture to an enclosure 

 ill a f resh-watei' stream, where they jiass the summer and au- 

 tumn, until the spawning season, which begins between October 

 "i't and 'I'l. They are then brought into narrow (piarters. di[)ped 

 up and examined, one hy one. and as fast as they are found ri])!' 

 the spawn is taken. 



The spawning paiiy works under a shed snug by the hank of 

 tile eiudosure. The spawn-taker sits on a box with a common 

 tin milk-pan Ixd'ore liinn Seizing a femak' lish by the tail with 

 his riuht hand he holds her ui) for a moment to judu-e bv the 



