THE RIVER FISHERIES OF MAINE. 719 
In early times the salting and smoking of salmon were common, and probably the greater part of 
the catch was disposed of in this way. Small vessels from Connecticut visited the Kennebec, as 
well as the Penobscot, to buy salmon. This was practiced as late as 1814 or later. But since 
1825 it has been almost or quite the universal practice to market salmon fresh. The average price 
received in Bowdoinham in 1826 was about 9 cents per pound; in 1827, 15 cents per pound; and 
between these extremes it remained until 1845, with the exception of 1834 and 1840. Since 1845 
there has been a considerable augmentation. 
Shad.—The shad is the most important of the products of the spring fishery, yielding a pecun- 
iary return sixteen times as great as salmon and nearly twice as great as the alewife. It is taken 
in weirs and drift-nets. Nearly every weir on the river depends more on shad than any other 
fish, but the most productive shad weirs are those of Merrymeeting Bay and vicinity, which are 
of the form already described as ‘‘ shad weirs,” whose distinguishing characteristic is the capture 
of the fish in a large pound of deep water, from which they are taken with a seine. This form of 
*veir is exclusively used in this vicinity, as on the lower part of the river the weir with a board 
floor is almost the only form in use. The principal reason for the difference in practice of the two 
sections is the difference in the condition of the river and the currents, a seine-weir requiring a 
gentle current for its successful operation. The form of weir has doubtless something to do with 
the fact that four-fifths of all the shad are taken in the Merrymeeting Bay district, including the 
Androscoggin arm of the bay and its tributaries, but it seems that while in the cooler and salter 
water of the Georgetown district they are more inclined to avoid the shores and pass up the river. 
Of the 140,000 shad taken in the Kennebec in 1880, 108,000 were taken in the Merrymeeting Bay 
district, 5,800 above Richmond, 16,744 between the bay and Bath, and only 10,000 below Bath, in- 
cluding the Sasanoa or eastward arm, between Woolwich and Arrowsic. The approximate averages 
are as follows: In the bay district, 44 weirs averaged 2,048 shad; below Bath, 29 weirs averaged 
345 shad. All included in the above statements are the breeding shad, called by the fishermen 
“ river shad,” or ‘spawn shad.” The sea shad are mostly taken with drift-nets in the lower reaches 
of the river, but to some extent in the weirs. In 1880 the catch of sea shad was exceedingly small, 
and only about 80 barrels were cured. The drifting below Bath is wholly for sea shad; above 
Bath, for river shad. 
In early times shad appear to have ascended the main river to Norridgewock Falls, Sandy 
River, a few miles from its mouth, and the Sebasticook in small numbers to Newport. Tradition 
also assigns the shad a place in the fauna of the Cobbosseecontee. There were productive shad 
fisheries at several points above the flow of the tide, among which we may mention Ticonic Falls 
(Waterville) and the Lower Sandy River. At Ticonic Falls thereis an island in mid-stream, where 
great facilities existed for catching shad with dip-nets. This island was private property. The 
proprietor, from 1804 down to the extinction of the fishery, has stated that in the early days of his 
fishing he used to take $500 to $600 worth of shad yearly. As remarkable feats he mentioned 
that with the assistance of his three boys he had taken 1,100 shad and 20 salmon in an afternoon, 
and that one day four men dipped out and boated ashore 6,400 large shad. There was a similar 
but less productive dip-net fishery on the falls at Skowhegan. 
The drift net, seine, and weir fisheries in the tidal waters were very productive. It is in 
evidence that in 1822 a seine at Augusta was known to take 700 shad in a day; that about 1837 
there were about 100,000 shad taken in Hastern River (Dresden) alone. It is known that the shad. 
fishery was by no means uniformly productive. A period of scarcity occurred about 1820. That 
year the weir at Abagadassett Point took but 150 shad (its catch in after years ranged from 3,000 
