DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES,

57
St. John River. . ..... 200.000
River A Mars 100,000
St. Margaret River, N.-W. Branch. . . 50,000
St. Margaret River, N.-E. Branch 150,000
St. Ann River. 15,000
Mowat's Lake . 300,000
Hal chery Lake 35,000
Total 850,000
Safe Distribution of Fry.
I am happy to state that the salmon fry hatched last spring were turned out in
*ery good condition. The fry for the St. Margaret River, both branches, St. Ann
River, Mowat's and Hatchery Lakes, were planted in these waters under my
special charge, and the fry for the Rivers A Mars and St. John were put out by the
caretaker, Mr. Plourde. One lot of 50,000 fry, intended for the Little Saguenay'
River, were put into Mowat's Lake. This was done to prevent any loss, as the
weather had become very warm and it was impossible to procure a towboat, an
'there was to good wind to go by sail boat. The 15,000 fry for the St. Ann River,.
below Quebec, were put in that stream without the loss of a single one, to the great
astonishment of the proprietor of the River, Capt. Kane, and other witnesses. The
fry were taken a journey of 1'TS miles by boat and 28 miles by land. I left Tadoussao
with the young fish at one o'clock on Saturday, and the next day, Sunday, at three
o'clock in the alternoon, the fry were put in the river. I changed the water si
times en route.
Large Exhibit of Young Salmon (Smolts).
I believe that all the smolts from the fry put into the hatchery lake, passed
down to the salt water during this season, on account of the summer being so con
tinuously wet, which caused the water of the lake to flow all the time over the dams.
They were seen in large schools, mixed up with the parent salmon in the salt water
pond. I caught some of them with a fly to see what they were eating; I found them
full of "chevrettes" by the French name. At the end of October in securing the
parent salmon, these smolts were a real nuisance in filling our nets, for we caught
hundred and hundreds of them which gave us a good deal of trouble to put them back
in the water. I have a great faith in small lakes being used as nurseries for salmon
fry. I visited the Mowat's Lake, and sent men to clear the brook running from the
lake to the St. Lawrence, to give a good free passage for the smolts to reach the salt
water. I have been told by many persons, and especially by the guardians of the
salmon rivers, that young salmon are seen in great numbers all along the rivers, of
the size of five inches and more. We saw more grilse coming around the hatchery
cove than usual. We ca'ght over thirty of them in our Point Rouge Fishery. We'
caught one day as many as seven. They were all put back in the water, being of
no use for the hatchery. There is an increase in the catch of salmon by nets. The'
best fishing time has been from the 10th to the 25th of June. By the report of the
guardians to the Local Government, the salmon rivers are well stocked with fish,
only to mention the St. Margaret River, the guardians counted 520 salmon on the
apawning grounds.
Capture of Farent Salmon.
We caught for this hatchery 244 parent salmon, 161 females and 83 males. We
lost one female by accident, caught by the trap door in the iron gate. That trap
door has been very useful in keeping some two feet more of water in the
aalt water pond between the tides. The door opens by the effect of the tide when
coming in, and closes by the pressure of tbe water when, the tide runs down. The
160 female gave 1,685,000 ova, an average of a little over 10,000 for each. The eggs
were all laid down in the hatching trays in good condition. The work of spawning