GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE PACIFIC SALMON 
685 
NORTH ATLANTIC REGION 
Many attempts have been made to introduce the Pacific salmon into the streams 
along the eastern coast of North America and the countries of northern Europe (see 
tables 1 and 2). Of these many transplantations all but those in the streams of 
Maine, New Brunswick, and Ontario were failures. The origin and character of the 
streams and lakes along the North American coast, north of the State of Maryland, 
indicate that they originally provided the physical requirements essential to the fresh- 
water survival of these salmon. Kendall (1935) states that the original range of the 
Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar), which has fresh-water requirements similar to those of 
the Pacific salmon, probably extended from Delaware to Labrador. The establish- 
ment of natural runs of Pacific salmon in Maine, New Brunswick, and Ontario, as well 
as the development of landlocked populations in lakes throughout this region, gives 
further evidence of the suitability of these fresh waters for the introduction of these 
salmon. 
Many of the streams in this region have been gradually altered, through the intro- 
duction of power dams and pollution, so that at present they may not provide the 
essential requirements for the fresh-water survival of the salmon. However, these 
hazards were not so serious from 1872 to 1900, during which time the majority of the 
transplantations of Pacific salmon were made (see tables 1 and 2). Mather (1887) 
states that natural runs failed to develop from the transplantations of chinook salmon 
in the Hudson River but that the runs of Atlantic salmon in the river could be greatly 
improved through the introduction of eggs and young from other coastal streams. 
Since the Pacific and Atlantic salmon have similar fresh-water requirements, the 
indications are that the Hudson River, in 1887, provided the essential fresh-water 
conditions for both species. The failure of these salmon to develop natural runs in 
the coastal streams from Maryland to the Gulf of Maine cannot be wholly attributed 
to the presence of unfavorable conditions in them. In fact, the streams of Maine 
would still support natural runs of Alaska pink salmon had they not been destroyed 
through adverse sentiment. The consistent lack of returns from plantings made in 
the coastal streams of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and espe- 
cially in the warm and muddy streams of Louisiana and Mississippi, may be in part 
attributed to their unsuitability for the fresh-water existence of the salmon. 
The millions of California chinook eggs sent to the countries of northern Europe, 
according to Baird (1878), Bottemanne (1879), Behr (1882), Aagaard (1930), and 
correspondence received, were all hatched with little loss and the young reared success- 
fully to the stage of seaward migration. Many of the young were also reared to the 
adult stage hi natural or artificial ponds in France, Germany, and Holland. In 
France these landlocked fish were spawned artifically for propagation in inland waters. 
The rivers and lakes of northern Europe in which the Chinooks were reared and 
liberated have in the past supported large populations of trout and Atlantic salmon, 
see Kendall (1935), all of which have fresh-water requirements similar to those of the 
chinooks. In fact, many of these rivers and lakes still support populations of Atlantic 
species. With the exception of artificial barriers and hazards introduced in these 
rivers through the progress of civilization, they all provide the essential conditions 
necessary for the fresh-water survival of the Pacific salmon. 
