New England Salmon Hatcheries and Salmon Fisheries in the Late 19th Century — John Shaqi
New England Salmon Hatcheries and Salmon Fisheries in the Late 19th CenturyVarious
History
New England Salmon Hatcheries and Salmon Fisheries in the Late 19th Century
Various
Fish hatcheries -- New England; Fisheries -- New England; Salmon -- New England
Although the salmon are taken from the fisherman without any attempt to
distinguish between males and females, it is always found at the
spawning season that the females are in excess, the average of four
seasons being about 34 males to 66 females. This is a favorable
circumstance, since the milt of a single male is fully equal to the
impregnation of the ova of many females.
The experiment has several times been tried of marking the salmon after
spawning and watching for their return in after years. After some
experiments, the mode finally fixed upon as best was to attach a light
platinum tag to the rear margin of the dorsal fin by means of a fine
platinum wire. The tags were rolled very thin, cut about half an inch
long and stamped with a steel die. The fish marked were dis missed in
the month of November. Every time it was tried a considerable number of
them was caught the ensuing spring, but with no essential change in
their condition, indicating that they had not meanwhile visited their
spawning grounds. In no case was a specimen caught in improved
condition during the first season succeeding the marking.
But the following year, in May and June, a few of them were taken in
prime condition--none otherwise--and it several times occurred that
female salmon were a second time committed to the inclosure and yielded
a second litter of eggs. The growth of the salmon during their absence
had been very considerable, there being always an increase in length
and a gain of twenty-five to forty per cent. in weight. The conclusion
seems unavoidable that the adult salmon do not enter the Penobscot for
spawning oftener than once in two years.
The method of impregnation employed has always been an imitation of the
Russian method introduced into America in 1871. The eggs are first
expressed into tin pans, milt is pressed upon them, and after they are
thoroughly mixed together, water is added. The result has been
excellent, the percentage of impregnated eggs rarely falling so low as
95.
After impregnation the eggs are transferred to the hatchery at Craig's
Pond Brook, where they are developed, resting upon wire-cloth trays in
wooden troughs, placed in tiers ten trays deep, to economize space, and
at the same time secure a free horizontal circulation of water.
The hatchery is fitted up in the basement of an old mill, of which
entire control has been obtained. The brook is one of exceptional
purity, and a steep descent within a few feet of the hatchery enables
us to secure at pleasure a fall of 50 feet or less. The brook formerly
received the overflow of some copious springs within a few hundred feet
of the hatchery, which so affected the temperature of the water that
the eggs were brought to the shipping point early in December, an
inconvenient date. This has been remedied by building a cement aqueduct
1,600 feet long, to a point on the brook above all the springs, which
brings in a supply of very cold water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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