198 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Writing of tlie former occurrence of salmon in Chaumont Bay, Mr. Earl S. Doug- 
lass says that it has been at least ten years since he saw any salmon in that vicinity. 
The fish never inhabited that section of the lake to such an extent as they did the 
portion adjacent to Oswego and Port Ontario. Regarding the availabilty of the rivers, 
he thinks that the conditions are not as favorable for the ascent of fish as they were 
during the period of their abundance, and that some of the streams in that vicinity 
which the fish formerly frequented are now mostly dry, at least during a portion 
of the year. The few fish which he remembers to have been caught in Chaumont Bay 
were taken in a pound net and weighed about 10 pounds. 
Mr. E. B. Horton, of Henderson Harbor, Jefferson County, New York, says that 111 
has not caught a salmon in that vicinity for twelve or thirteen years, and knows of 
only one being taken in that time. This was taken in Stony Creek, with a wliitefish 
gill net having a mesh of 2J inches, and weighed 6^ pounds. The only stream in that 
immediate vicinity is the Black River, which he does not think would be adapted for 
salmon, as the water is contaminated by refuse from paper mills situated not far from 
its mouth, and the acid used is said to kill pike, bass, and other fish, and would prove 
equally injurious to salmon. 
At a conference of fish commissioners held in New York City October 19, 1872, 
the subject of salmon in Lake Ontario was one of the principal questions discussed.* 
Many important points having a bearing on the present agitation were brought out, 
and it is thought advisable to introduce the following abstract of the proceedings: 
Prof. Baird, in speaking of the migrations of the salmon, stated that it had not been 
determined whether the Ontario salmon went to the ocean and returned to the lake 
again each year. Dr. Edmunds, whose observations are given in full elsewhere, said 
that some of the fishermen made a distinction between the salmon of the lake and 
what they called the Bay Chaleur salmon, but he did not know in what respect they dif- 
fered from each other. Mr. Seth Green remarked that a good many salmon still ran 
up to the head of Lake Ontario and up Wilmot Creek, which is only 10 or 12 miles in 
length. He did not regard these as landlocked salmon, though they may never go 
down the St. Lawrence, and thought the fish might find suitable food in the lake. Mr. 
Thaddeus Norris was an old salmon-fisher, and had given considerable attention to 
the habits and instincts of the salmon. He thought the salmon that Mr. Wilmot, of 
Canada, procured were fresh- water fish, and that the salmon of Lake Ontario had lost 
their sea going instinct ; Lake Ontario was their wintering-place; they live there all 
the year when not going up the rivers to spawn. Mr. Norris thought that the salmon 
of Lake Ontario were fresh -water salmon, for the reason that they had minnows in 
them, the habit of salt-water salmon being to abstain from food when ascending the 
rivers to spawn. Mr. Seth Green gave his experience as a fisherman and fish-dealer 
for many years on Lake Ontario. In the course of his operations he had dressed tons 
of salmon, but had failed to find food in their stomachs. The fish were taken in trap 
nets in the lake, set along the shores, and he thought the trap nets had practically 
exterminated the salmon in Lake Ontario during a period of five years. 
Prof. Baird, speaking concerning the introduction of salt-water salmon into the 
lakes, said he had full confidence that the experiment with the Penobscot salmon 
would be successful. It was well known that the principal food of the salmon in the 
“See Report U. S. Fish Commission, 1872-73, p. 763. 
