256 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
County 
Pounds 
Value 
County 
Pounds 
Value 
Cumberland 
2. 500 
14,300 
4. 500 
$300 
1,685 
325 
Washington 
51, 900 
1, 150 
$7,851 
207 
Hancock 
York 
Sagadahoc. . 
Seines were fished in Cumberland, Hancock, Knox, and Lincoln Counties, with 
the following results: 
Counties 
Pounds 
Value 
Counties 
Pounds 
Value 
92, 635 
16, 000 
$8, 708 
1,600 
Knox _ 
52, 500 
25, 100 
$6, 150 
2,590 
Lincoln . ... ... . 
Gill nets appear to have been used only in Washington County, where they 
took 17,500 pounds, valued at $2,035. Dip nets and bag nets were employed in 
Hancock, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, and Washington Counties. The largest catch was 
in Washington County, which fell behind the combined catches of the other counties 
by 1,800 pounds. 
County 
Pounds 
Value 
County 
Pounds 
Value 
33, 300 
8, 000 
$3, 170 
040 
Sagadahoc 
13, 000 
52, 500 
$1,300 
8, 630 
Washington. . 
Fyke nets were used only in Lincoln and Sagadahoc Counties. The combined 
catch of the two counties was only 5,500 pounds, valued at $550, of which Lincoln 
had 4,000 pounds, valued at $400. The following table shows the quantities of 
smelts taken by the various methods from 1887 to 1908, as revealed by the only 
available statistics: 
Methods of capture 
1887 
1888 
1898 
1905 
1908 
589, 105 
142, 300 
79, 650 
388, 145 
601,812 
179, 600 
93, 600 
397, 538 
577, 133 
590, 703 
6, 196 
266, 272 
12, 000 
4, 237 
197, 600 
186, 235 
' 74, 350 
106, 800 
17, 500 
5, 500 
89. 000 
222, 000 
113. 000 
29. 000 
34. 000 
107. 000 
Weirs, traps, and pounds 
3, 600 
2, 000 
Total 
1, 205, 150 
1, 279, 550 
1,608, 045 
587, 985 
654, 000 
On December 10, 1906, smelt fishing in Maine had begun, according to advice 
from Bangor Fishing Gazette, New York, 1906). 
At the mouth of Union River the ice is safe and enough smelts are being taken to encourage 
the fishermen to continue, but there have been no big hauls. At Surry, the most important smelt- 
fishing town in Maine, 10 or 15 tents have been erected by fishermen. Within a week or two, if 
the weather continues cold, half of the population of the town will have moved out on the ice, and 
there will be fully 100 tents and shacks. The Penobscot River smelt fisherman have not been 
able to begin the season because the ice has not formed solidly below Hampden. 
The following table shows the amount of smelts, in pounds, caught in each 
county for certain years from 1897 to 1924, derived from reports of the commissioner of 
sea and shore fisheries of Maine and reports of the United States Bureau of Fisheries: 
