XXVII -REPORT ON THE PROPAGATION OF SCHOODIC SALMON 



IN 1883-'84. 



By Charles G. Atkixs. 



The season opeued with tlie ))iomise of au average run of fisli. The 

 early spring fishing with hook and line had been very good. Tlie hite 

 spring fishing (in June with fly) lind been nnusually poor, but this was 

 ill part attributable to the stage of the hike, which was higli and rising 

 all the season. Young sahnon were quite plenty; those too small to take 

 a fly were (30ustantly jumping at it. October 27, the date of my arrival 

 on the ground for the work of the s])awning season, there ap[)eared to 

 be plenty of fish above the nets. They were often seen jumping, anil 

 had at that date already begun to dig the gravel. 



The nets were put in position for fishing October 29, and <lnring the 

 following night 113 salmon came in. On tlie night of the 30th, 50 salmon 

 were taken, aiid the two succeeding nights yielded 75 each. The males 

 were at first, as usual, in excess, but the relative numbers of the sexes 

 were reversed after the first two nights, and from that time to the close 

 of the season the females were in excess every night. In ordinary sea 

 sons, when the aggregate numbers caught of the two sexes are equal, 

 it is customary to infer that we are at the height of the run, and that 

 about half the fish have already come in. This year this conjunction 

 of attairs was reached at the early date of November 4, when only 427 

 salmon had been ciiptured. I then conceived a hope that this might 

 prove to be an exceptional season, when the feoiales might exceed the 

 males in a much greater ratio than usual. Such proved to be the case. 

 .Of the total catch of 1,005, there were 719 females (71 per cent.) and 

 295 males (29 per cent.). This is a greater disparity than has ever be- 

 fore occurred here. 



The fish proved large and prolific. There were 001 gravid females, 

 and they yielded 1,070,500 eggs, an average of 1,023 to each female. 

 This is not quite equal to the yield of the previous season, which was 

 1,779, but is 98 in excess of that of 1881 (1,525 jier fish). 



The males averaged 3.2 pounds in weight; the largest one weighed 

 5.4 x)Ounds, and the smallest (adult) 1.1 i)ounds. The heaviest female 

 was one of 4.8 pounds, the lightest weighed 1.8 pounds, and the gravid 

 ones averaged 3 ])Ounds. Ovarian disease, which has been mentione«l 

 in previous reports as prevalent among the Schoodic salmon, was found 

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