DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES,

56
The fry were deposited in the rivers in good condition. It must be noticed here
that the estimated number, 750,000, of ova placed in the building in the autumn of
1887 was too small, as the actual quantity was 840,000.
Parent Salmon, 1888.
The number of parent salmon captured and purchased was 49. Owing to high
water the net could not be set until the 15th June and it had to be raised twice on
account of rain storms, causing heavy freshets in the river. I would recommend the
capturing of parent salmon, for the future, in Gaspe Basin by setting the nets in
Patrick Mackenzie's station. In this manner a greater supply of parent fish might
be secured from the larger and earlier runs of salmon which enter the bay.
.Manipulation of Fish.
The salmon were placed in cribs on the 15th October. A very heavy rain came
on the 8th and the cribs sank two feet under water on the 9th. I procured extra
help and raised and secured the cribs, and found the fish had not suffered. It was
fortunate they were caught and put into the cribs, as, had they been left in the
brook till the 8th October, they would have been lost to us for spawning purposes
by the heavy freshet. As it was four were left, as they could not be netted owing
to the continual rainfall.
I commenced taking ova on the 10th October and finished on the 30th. There
were 36 females and 8 males; I estimate the number of ova placed in the building at
350,000, or an average of 9,700 eggs to each female.
Painting and Repairs.
The trays arid troughs were varnished in the summer, and the building was
aired and dried as much as possible.
In last year's report 1 mentioned the necessity of painting the exterior of the
establishment, and the same remark may be made this season again.
The St. John ,llrver Salmon increased in size by artficial means.
The canoe men employed by anglers on the St. John, or Douglastown River, at
Gaspé, have informed me during the past few years that, the weight of the salmon
caught on said river has been much heavier than formerly. The average of the fish
was only about 15 pounds, but lately it has reached 18 pounds. During the year
1885 a salmon was laken on the St. John which weighed 30 pounds, and in 1886
another of 29 pounds. The fishermen attribute this increase in the size of the St.
John River salmon to the planting of quantities of fry from the Gaspé Hatchery,
'which were bred irom the eggs of the larger kind of salmon, which are natives rof
the Dartmouth River; they also say that these larger salmon taken in the St. John
closely resemble the Dartmouth River fish.
PHILIP VIBERT,
Officer in Charge, Gaspé Hatchery.
9—TADOTJSSAO HLTCHE RY.
PROVINCE OP QUEBEC.
Report of the Officer in Charge of the Tadoussac Hatchery for 1888.
,Herewith is submitted the annual report of the operations carried on in thia
institution under my charge during the past year. As previously reported, from the
O2,400 ova deposited in the hatchery in the fall of l87, 850,000 fry were successfully
hatched and planted in the following rivers and lakes :