THE SALMON FISHERY OF PENOBSCOT BAY AND RIVER. 
121 
Evidences of results of propagation . — The opinion is now practically unanimous 
among the salmon fishermen of Penobscot River and Bay that the artificial hatching 
of salmon by the U. S. Fish Commission is producing beneficial results. About the 
same arguments in support of their opinions are presented by all, and these accord 
well in the main with the observations of other persons who have given this matter 
attention : 
(1) The opportunities for natural reproduction are exceedingly limited, owingtothe 
obstructions to the passage of the fish to their spawning-grounds in the headwaters 
of the Penobscot basin. 
(2) The salmon that are naturally hatched are, even under the most favorable 
conditions prevailing at the present time, not numerous enough to keep up the supply 
of market and brood fish, with the fatalities incident to the long residence at sea 
and to the passage of immature fish down from the spawning grounds to the sea. 
(3) The remarkable run in May and June, 1896, of fish of comparatively small 
size that had apparently just reached maturity and the relative scarcity of large fish 
that had evidently been in the river during one or two previous seasons seemed to 
show a tendency toward the depletion of the run of old fish and the substitution of a 
run of young, artificially hatched fish. 
(4) A feature of the salmon supply in recent years, on which the fishermen nearly 
all lay considerable stress, is that the runs in April and July, which in former years 
were often quite important and remunerative, have of late been very poor, although 
the fish constituting them are of large size, while the runs in May and June have 
kept up, but have consisted chiefly of comparatively small fish. In this the fishermen 
believe they see evidence of the work of the hatchery, for the young salmon artificially 
hatched have been from eggs of May and June fish, and the fishermen think that such 
young fish, when they return to the river to spawn, will come at about the same time 
that their parents did. 
Many salmon fishermen might be quoted on the question of results of propagation. 
A few sample statements and records of salmon taken will be given covering different 
parts of the bay and river. 
Mr. Francis French, an experienced salmon fisherman of Stockton, on the western 
side of Penobscot Bay, reports that of the 61 salmon taken in his weir in 1896, 56 
were under 11 pounds in weight, and all evidently belonged to the same year’s brood. 
In 1895 the 29 salmon obtained by Mr. French averaged 20 pounds each. According 
to his observations, a very large percentage of the salmon in the Penobscot region in 
1896 were hatchery fish that then entered the river for the first time. 
Mr. A. H. Whitmore, a salmon fisherman of over thirty years’ experience, who fishes 
three weirs off the southern end of Whitmore Island, states that in that part of the 
river the catch in 1896 was the largest in thirty years, with the exception of one 
season. He thinks there is no doubt whatever of the beneficial results of artificial 
propagation, as shown by the maintenance of the supply when obstructions to the 
passage of salmon to the upper waters must greatly curtail natural spawning. 
Mr. Joseph Hurd, of Winterport, has two weirs at Oak Point, which is the upper 
limit of weir fishing for salmon on the west side of the river; the nets are about 12 
miles below Bangor; 25 salmon were taken in 1895, and 60 in the following year. The 
catch was better in 1896 than in a number of years. Eight years before, Mr. Hurd 
