American Fisheries Society lOT 



not know vet whether they will reproduce when they have he- 

 come wonted to the fresh waters or whether they will have the 

 same habits of the salmon of the Pacific coast and die after 

 spawnino;. But in two or three lakes in Xew England this sal- 

 mon has been introduced successfully, so that it has been caught 

 l)y the angler up to the size of nine or ten pounds, and proved 

 a very gamey fish. 



I do not dislike to discourage Mr. Meehan in his efforts, l)ut 

 today the bureau is maintaining a commercial fishery for the 

 Atlantic salmon on the Penobscot river purely by artificial propa- 

 gation. If that river were left to its own resources and the natur- 

 al productiveness of the salmon, I think they would disappear in 

 a very few years. "We find it difficult to get enough eggs to keep 

 u]) our stock; and Mr. Meehan has stated the difficulty of getting 

 euougb eggs to stock the Delaware. There is no place in the 

 United States where we can get them, and if we could feel en- 

 couraged and have the courage that he has about the artificial 

 propagation of salmon we would naturally try to stock the riv- 

 ers farther north Avhich are naturally better suited to them, and 

 were once their natural habitat, like the Connecticut, the Kenne- 

 l)ec in Maine, and the Merrimac which were once teeming with 

 salmon, but now are almost depleted, if not entirely so, due to 

 the ]iollution of the waters and the artificial obstructions which 

 naturally come with the progress of civilization. 



^Ir. ]\leeban: Perhaps my courage may be due to the fact 

 that I feel that today there are not many streams in which com- 

 mercial fishing is done that could be maintained without artifi- 

 cial propagation; and if it were not for that there would not Ix- 

 anything of any kind in the waters. But I do believe tliat if 

 we succeed in putting salmon in the Delaware, artificial ])ropa- 

 gation would have to be continued, and continued on a large 

 scale at all times, and never stopped. In fact, we do not dare 

 stop at that in any kind of work, for whether it be whitefish, 

 herring or trout, or whatever the fish may be, it is artificial work 

 today that is keeping the streams up. 



:\Ir. Frank X. Clark ; Why is not that the proper way any- 

 liow y ( Applause. ) Take your eggs, hatch your fish, plant them 

 in the water, and take your old fish out, just the same as you do 

 with beef cattle on the farm. 



