4 -THE SALMON FISHERY OF PENOBSCOT BAY AND RIVER IN 
1895 AND 1896. 
By HUGH M. SMITH. 
During the months of August and September, 1896, the writer visited the shores 
of Penobscot River and Bay in the interests of the United States Fish Commission, 
for the purpose of securing data regarding the condition and extent of the salmon, 
shad, and alewife fisheries. Special attention was given to the salmon fishery, as the 
Penobscot is now the only important salmon stream on the Atlantic coast of the 
United States and has been the field for very extensive fish-cultural operations on the 
part of the Fish Commission. A large majority of the owners of the salmon weirs and 
nets along both sides of the bay and river were interviewed and accurate accounts 
of their fishing obtained, together with their observations as to the effect of artificial 
propagation on the supply. 
The history and methods of the salmon fishery of this basin have been well pre- 
sented in papers by Mr. Charles Gf. Atkins, superintendent of the Government hatchery 
at Craig Brook, Maine.* The present paper is primarily intended to show the extent 
and condition of the salmon fishery of Penobscot Bay and River in 1895 and 1896 and 
the influence of artificial propagation on the supply. The methods and apparatus of the 
fishery are briefly considered. A chart of the Penobscot region, giving the location 
of salmon weirs and traps in use in 1896, is appended, and illustrations of some of the 
types of salmon apparatus are shown. 
Extent and condition of the fishery in 1895 and 1896 . — While the number of nets 
operated in these two years was practically the same, the catch in 1896 was much 
greater than in 1895, and was one of the largest in the recent history of the fishery. 
A comparatively large number of fishermen reported that they took more salmon 
than in any previous year. The salmon, however, were smaller than usual, and their 
market value was but little more in 1896 than in 1895. 
The traps set especially for salmon, or in which "salmon were taken, numbered 193 
in 1895 and 184 in 1896. These, with the accessories, had a value of $12,474 and 
$13,146, respectively. The boats and scows required in the construction and operation 
of the nets numbered 188 in 1895, the same in 1896, and were valued at $3,576 and 
$3,599, respectively. The number of men engaged in the fishery was 127 in 1895 and 
126 in 1896. In the comparatively unimportant branch of the fishery carried on with gill 
nets in the vicinity of Bangor, 10 nets, valued at $189, were used in 1895, aud 11 nets, 
worth $199, in 1896; these were set by 6 men in the first year and 7 in the next. The 
boats numbered 4 in 1895 and 5 in 1896, and were valued at $29 and $37, respectively. 
* (1) On the Salmon of Eastern North America, and its artificial culture. In Report of Com- 
missioner of Fish and Fisheries 1872-73, pp. 226-337, 9 plates of apparatus and methods, and map 
showing location of salmon weirs in Penobscot region. 
(2) The River Fisheries of Maine. In The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, 
section v, vol. i, pp. 673-728. 
F. C. B. 1897—8 
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