CHAPTER XII 
THE SALMON-FISHERY 
By W. T. GRENFELL 
Or the four varieties of salmon in Labrador, — Salmo 
salar, Salmo trutta, Salmo immaculatus, and Salmo hudson- 
icus, — only the first two are of commercial importance. 
Salmo salar is a noble fish. In strength, beauty, and 
spirit he is certainly superior to any others in the Labrador 
waters. He is found from end to end of the coast, but less 
abundantly in the north, where he remains a shorter time 
than in the south. He arrives during the period between 
the latter part of June and the end of July; and, after brows- 
ing about on the coast for a month or so, proceeds up the 
rivers to breed. It appears that for some time he runs in 
and out of the river mouth, as if to accustom himself to 
the change to fresh water. 
The salmon is really a river dweller, a luxurious fellow 
with a winter home in the sea, but in most countries two- 
thirds of his life is spent in the rivers. So strong a homing 
instinct does he possess, that he can hardly be kept back 
from returning to his own particular river, the place of his 
birth and the abode of his first year. This has been shown 
by marking live salmon taken at the head of a river, carrying 
them around to another river, the source of which was quite 
close to their own, but whose mouth was the opposite side of 
a great stretch of land. Three weeks later some of the 
marked fish were caught in their own pool again. In 
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