260 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
they rush in almost solid columns up the brooks and rivulets to spawn, and are then taken by 
cart-loads. This Fishery, under proper management, might be made one of considerable profit 
as the smelt is really delicious, and always highly esteemed. 
In the same report specific mention is made of the River Miramichi. Perley 
said that the smelt ascended this river and its tributaries very early every year, in 
almost miraculous quantities; and in Buctouche River he stated that there was a 
great abundance of smelt every spring, and that parties of French settlers went up 
the brooks in log canoes and each party frequently got 50 to 60 barrels of smelts, 
which were used to manure the land. 
In 1871 W. H. Yenning, then fisheries inspector of New Brunswick, stated that 
large quantities of smelt were sent in a frozen state from Northumberland County 
to the United States, where they brought good prices. In 1872 the same inspector 
stated that from Westmorland County smelts were taken in large quantities and 
shipped fresh to the Boston market. In Kent County, in the same year, smelts were 
said to have been abundant in the rivers and a valuable resource for the fishermen 
during the winter season. 
In 1873 Venning reported that smelts were being taken in larger quantities than 
ever before in Kent County, and that preparations were being made for extensively 
shipping them to the United States, where they commanded a ready sale and good 
prices. In his report for 1876 Venning (1877) said: 
Hitherto smelts have been very numerous because the fishery has not been followed to any 
great extent, but the facilities now offered for transportation are so great that a large business in 
this fish is growing up all along the Nothern Shore of New Brunswick, including the counties of 
Kent, Northumberland, and Gloucester. They are sent to the United States, where they find a 
ready sale at profitable prices. 
Adams (1873), writing of New Brunswick, said: 
Enormous numbers of smelt are caught on the seaboard in midwinter, mostly to feed pigs, the 
flesh of which becomes tainted by the cucumber flavour of this fish. 
Whiteaves (1874), in a report for 1873, said that the smelt was or might be 
taken abundantly throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence all the year round, and that 
in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia smelts were exported to New York and Boston. 
A note in Forest and Stream for October 12, 1876, stated that a large number 
of men were employed daily near Barthurst, New Brunswick, in fishing for smelts 
for American markets, principally New York and Boston. “During the past two 
weeks [first half of October] about forty tons have been forwarded by rail.” 
Venning (1877) indicated that the closed time for smelts in New Brunswick 
from April 15 to May 15, did not cover the spawning season of the “summer smelt” 
nor sufficiently protect the breeding fish. He said that large numbers were taken 
after the 15th of May (before they were done spawning) and used as manure. He 
stated that to be effectual the close time should be extended to the 1st of July, not 
only to prevent destruction of the spawning fish but also to prevent their being used 
as manure, adding that if they were caught all winter to the extent that then pre- 
vailed, and then destroyed wholesale during the spawning time, a very few years 
would effect their exhaustion. 
Available statistics for a period of some 50 years ago, more or less, when W. H. 
Vennipg was inspector of fisheries of New Brunswick, indicate that the smelt fishery 
