Maine Fish and Game Magazine, Spring 1965

RICHARD CUT

FISH AND GAME

SPRING, 1965

Governor John H. Reed

FIS-HAND GAME

Department of Inland Fisheries and Game Ronald T. Speers

STATE OF MAINE

Commissioner George W. Bucknam Deputy Commissioner Stanley P. Linscott Supt. of Hatcheries

Spring, 1965

Vol. VII, No. 1

Maynard F. Marsh Chief Warden

Fishing Roundup

2

W. Thomas Shoener

Restoring Trout Streams

4

Dr. W. Harry Everhart

Co-ordinator, Fishery Research

Warden Rescue Unit

7

Business Manager

Needles or Spikes?

9

Robert S. Rupp & Malcolm A. Redmond

Caribou Report

11

Kenneth W. Hodgdon

Programs in Pictures

12

Fish Lore, First Hand

14

Stuart E. DeRoche

Safe Boating is FUN

16

Albert E. MacLennan

Atlantic Salmon Report

19

Alfred L. Meister

Salamanders

20

Donald F. Mairs

Beaver Become Marsh Managers

23

Harold M. Blanchard & Myron S. Smart

The Carp

26

Robert E. Foye

Notes and Comments

28

Wildlife Quiz

28

Wildlife Quiz Answers

29

Stairways for Spawners

30

Dr. W. Harry Everhart Chief, Fishery Division Lyndon H. Bond C. Keith Miller Kenneth W. Hodgdon Chief, Game Division William C. Mincher Director, Information and Education Laurence F. Decker Chief Engineer

Advisory Council Dr. Alonzo H. Garcelon, Chairman Augusta, Maine Arthur Bennett James Mendelson Presque Isle Belfast Fred B. Howard Philip F. Rowe South Portland West Buxton Reginald L. Parker Don Wilson Bath Moose head Published under appropriation 7750 Mnine Fish :ind G:nne is published by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, Augusta, Maine. Š Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Game, 1965.

William C. Mincher, Editor W. Thomas Shoener, Managing Editor Kenneth E. Gray, Photo Editor William W. Cross, Photographer No advertising- accepted.

Written permissi0n must be secured from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game before reproducing any part of this copyrighted material. Unsoli~ited manuscripts, photos, etc., will be handled with care, but 1U :ii11e Fish an(l Gnme cannot assume responsibility for loss or damage to same. They will be returned to the sender if accompanied by sufficient postage.

CREDITS All photographs in this issue were made by the Information and Education Division unless otherwise indicated.

Sketches not otherwise credited are by Ted Bunker. First and third cover photos by Ken Gray; second and fourth

by Bill Cross.

Maine Fish and Game -

Fall, 1964

THE COVER 1965 or 191 O? Transportation in the past wasn't as comfortable as it is today . . . but fishing trips spell enjoyment any time in Maine. The car is a 1910 Ford, the men are Liston Smith, at the wheel, and his father, Owen, both of Dover-Foxcroft, and Ken Gray's picture is a recent one, at Brann's Mill Pond.

Laurence F. Decker

Fishing

Roundup A quick review of the '64 season and some musings about fishing in Maine

By Tom Shoener

find trout and salmon through the summer months by swapping surface lures for deeper-running rigs after the fish departed for the cool depths.

Low water in the rivers plagued the Atlantic salmon fishermen last year, and, while there were a number of good fish taken, the season left something to be desired. This sport is still in the "inpatient" stage of recovery from a precarious low ebb of a decade or two ago. Great impetus has been added in recent years to the task of restoring Atlantic salmon runs in Maine rivers, and the future looks bright, indeed, for this mighty battler's return.

I

of the expression on the face of Martin R. Hovey of Haverhill, Massachusetts, as he holds this landlocked salmon will be left to the reader, but one thing is certain-he is justifiably proud of the 7 lb. 3 oz. beauty he pulled from Parker Pond last July.

Granted, not all salmon caught in Maine last year shoved the scale indicator as far as this one, but a good many did, and a glance at the list on the next page shows a couple of the landlocks that topped it.

Surface fishing for salmon and the other coldwater denizens was unusually good last spring and early summer, being influenced by cool weather which wouldn't let the water warm up. The start of the action on the warm-water fish was slowed down a bit by the same cool weather that gave us so much fun on the salmon and trout waters.

But alas, summer finally took hold and the warmwater enthusiasts had the last laugh. Of course, those wise souls with the know-how continued to

2

NTERPRETATION

got off to a slow start last winter as weak ice conditions kept the less daring fishermen at home in the early part of the season. By the time the February opener on salmon and trout rolled around, the ice had hardened up and the fishermen were raring to go-and go they did! With the snowmobile craze getting into high gear, many previously hard-to-get-at lakes saw their fir.st ice fishing action of any consequence.

Speaking of ice fishing, isn't it funny the way a pickerel caught through a hole in the ice is a precious beast to be treated with great respect? The same fish caught during the summer makes many fishermen cuss and snarl. Try to figure that one out!

One thing that visitors to Maine cannot understand is the way many Mainers pass off any fish not in the salmon or trout category as being something little better than a nuisance. Bass, pickerel,

I

CE FISHING

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

Maine Fish and Game lists the largest fish r egistered with "The One That Didn't Get Away Club" every spring, finding that it stir.s some lively discussions and is well received by the readers. Anyone who lands an extraordinarily large fish in Maine in accordance with contest rules and doesn't mind telling where and how to the rest of the angling world is eligible to join.

Minimum qualifying weights for entry in the club are : landlocked .salmon, brown trout, and rainbow trout, eight pounds; lake trout (togue) and Atlantic salmon, fifteen pounds; brook trout and black bass (largemouth and smallmouth), five pounds; and white perch, three pounds. Fish should be certified by a Maine warden or by two disinterested persons. Any warden can provide an application card which should be filled out and mailed to the Department of Economic Development, State Office Building, Augusta.

perch, and other weed patch residents have never really gained a prominent spot in the cracker barrel bull sessions in Maine, and for no good reason.

The sporting quality of these warm-water critters is often just as good as that of the elite coldwater dwellers, and they aren't bad eating, either!

Maine has plenty of excellent fishing for these unheralded species, and you don't have to go very far to find it.

and good fishing have long been synonymous, and to say that anglers have a pretty good time of it in Maine would be, perhaps, needless repetition of what has been said many times in many ways in the past. Whether trying to fill the bottom of the boat with perch from a roadside pond or seeking the solitude of a wilderness trout stream, fishermen find their sport in Maine.

M

AINE

THE ONE THAT DIDN'T GET AWAY CLUB FOR 1965

_r:

TOP FISH IN EACH CATEGORY

VI

- O\..r: (1)

C U

(1)

C

_J-

The Angler

The Fish

Brook Trout

Brown Trout Lake Trout (Togue)

The Lu re

Where Caught

Fly (Red) 9'-3 Frozen _S melt Live Bait Nitewalkers

South Great Great Great

30 30

Red & White Streamer Sewed Shiner Sewed-on Smelt Mooselook Wobbler

Salmon Lake Alford Lake Alford Lake Great Pond

41

20

Sewed Smelt

18

41 35

45 45

Mooselook Wobbler Minnow

Moosehead Lake Moosehead Lake Sebec Lake Sebec Lake

8-4

26

85

Sewed Smelt Gray Queen

Wyman Dam Pool East Grand Lake

38

35

#4 Cosseboom Salmon fly

Narraguagus River, Cable Pool

Weedless Green Frog Frog

Bath Water Works Cobbosseecontee Stream Whitney P ond Nequasset Lake

23 24 23% 21%

Blaine E. Darling, Bangor, Me .

Aurele Fecteau, Waterville, Me .

Cyra C. Charles , Mercer, Me .

Judith L . Buzzell, Oakland, Me.

6-13 6-6

Stanley Plisga, Waterville , Me .

Russell W . Glidden, No. Windham, Me .

George I. Dodge, Jr ., Owls Head, Me. Herschel H . Hutchins , Mt. Vernon, Me.

12 11-3 10-8

27 29 27 ~;

9-14

30

Donald White, Bath, Me .

Richard DeLisle, Fairfield, Me. Hartley K. Phinney, Stamford, Conn.

William Cushman, New Canaan, Conn.

27

6

6

60

15 20 20

10

18-8

18

Branch Pond Pond Pond

I

Landlocked Salmon Atlantic Salmon Black Bass

John Siviski, Jr ., Winslow, Me. Bud Le avitt, Bangor, Me.

8-3

Ray Little , Milbridge, Me.

18-12

Daniel Borders, Brunswick, Me. Mahlon H . Thomas, Gardiner, Me.

7

35

6-14

3

Loyd E . Heasley, Forestville, Conn.

John W . Day, Bath, Me.

6-12 6-12

Maine Fish and Game- Spring, 1965

21

15 7

Rapala Dying Flutter Minnow

3

Restoring Trout Streams Figure I

M

for changing his environment. Indeed we have now reached the incredible position of being threatened with the ultimate in habitat alteration - destruction of our earth by nuclear explosion.

On the bright side of our technological development have been the labor-saving devices which have increased leisure and provided more time for relaxation. How to spend this leisure time is a problem which must be solved by the recreation industry.

Because man has always been attracted to water, much of our recreation revolves around water sports, with fishing as one of the all-time favorit~s.

The recreation industry must provide a quality product for increasing numbers of consumers with more leisure, but, at the same . time our production plants - the lakes and streams - are suffering continued deterioration.

Think a minute about your favorite fishing areas.

How many have not in some way been changed by man? Yes, even the famed Allagash has felt the woodman's axe, the blast of dynamite to make a channel for the old river boats, and changed water levels controlled by dams on lake outlets.

How many waters have been taken out of production by pollution? How many beautiful rivers have been turned into open sewers? Perhaps it goes without saying that clean water is necessary for water recreation. If the oxygen in a stream has been reduced to a critical level, even for a short time fish cannot survive, and it is useless to conside; other habitat improvement. The Inland Fisheries and Game Department has no authority here but to make recommendations.

Responsibility for pollution abatement rests with each of you.

Large impoundments force nature to cut production of stream fish and turn instead to fish that can live in a lake environment. And you are forced to change your fishing habits. No one can deny the need for the construction of high-speed highways, but highways take thousands of acres of wildlands out of production, forcing the hunter and the hunted to concentrate in the remaining space. Fluctuating water flows scour the streams during floods, and later, at low water, there is barely enough flow to AN HAS AMAZING FACULTIES

4

cover the stream bottom. Fish production is limited by both these extremes of flow.

S

have been made to increase the production of our water areas by stream improvement. Research over the past thirty years has provided more and more information about fish, resulting in more efficient stream improvement by the fishery scientist. For example, the solution to the problem of fluctuating water levels is controlled flow, and controlled flow can be provided by water control dams. Such dams collect and store water when it is plentiful and then meter it out throughout the year to provide a stable flow. Generally a fishway is required, and it is usually efficient to use the water that runs the fishway t o provide the correct stream flows.

Shown on this page are two water control dams.

The Pleasant River Lake outlet dam and fishway (Figure 1) control the water level in Pleasant River Lake and the water flows in the Pleasant River.

The Cathance Lake outlet dam and fishway (Figure 2) control the water level in Cathance Lake and the water flows in Cathance Stream, a major tributary to the Dennys River. These dams and others like them are providing improved streams where young fish survive in stable water flows with plentiful food supplies.

UCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS

S

finest trout streams have been destroyed by log-driving operations. River driving of logs and pulpwood has been practiced in OME OF MAINE'S

By Dr. W. Harry Everhart Chief, Fishery Division

Figure 3

Maine for many years, and although truck transportation of logs has increased with the improvement of roads and trucking facilities, river transportation is still necessary in some ar~as. P 7ior to driving in small streams, pulpwood 1s cut mto four-foot lengths and piled on bank landings and in the stream bed. Stream obstructions that might hinder driving the pulpwood downstream are removed by bulldozing.

Maine studies show that logging operations can reduce trout production in the following ways: 1. Temperature. Destruction of shade trees

Figure 4

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

and bank cover results in summer water temperatures too high for brook trout. Small springs are diverted and rendered ineffective for cooling the brook.

2. Pools and cover. Almost all overhanging banks, large boulders, logs, and debris that serve as protective cover for fish are removed. The stream bed is leveled and nearly all pools are eliminated when depressions are filled and loops and turns are straightened.

The natural stream width is often increased considerably, and the result is a thin sheet of water flowing over a wide, flat stream bed. Water depth is often insufficient for trout.

3. Trout food. Aquatic insect populations, the chief food of trout, are temporarily destroyed, but the insect populations recover rapidly. Overhanging vegetation is eliminated, and fewer terrestrial insects are available as trout food.

4. Siltation. Use of bulldozers, to clear haul roads and landings and to push pulpwood into streambeds, disturbs and moves tons of soil, resulting frequently in severe siltation for many miles downstream. Such siltation reduces survival of trout eggs, reduces populations of streambottom insects, and destroys streambed vegetation.

All practices that cause problems similar to those listed above must be controlled and the streams improved if fish production is to match your fishing needs.

F

ORTUNATELY, some of the natural stream conditions can be restored using the very instrument that may have destroyed them in the first place, the bulldozer. Fishery scientists directing men and machines furnished by the timber companies have demonstrated that "biological know-how" and company resources can combine to solve many problems of stream restoration.

Let's look at Big Hudson Brook and Sourdnahunk Lake outlet to see the results of some trout stream renewal. Figure 3 shows how Hudson Brook looked before restoration, and Figure 4 shows how Sourdnahunk Stream looked just below the lake. Then the biologist and the machine went to work (Figure 5). Boulders arranged as deflectors now constrict the Big Hudson Brook stream channel to concen-

Figure 6

trate the water flows and to shape needed pools below the deflectors (Figure 6). Pools were excavated where springs entered the brook, and some spring outlets were diverted into pools above and below, to impound cold water from springs and to help insure the trout of a more stable home with plenty of living space.

Stretches of Sourdnahunk Stream were so full of bark and other wood wastes that the only solution was to cut a new channel and fill in the old (Figure 7). Here the front-end loader was most effective.

Figure 7

Log deflectors for Sourdnahunk Stream were firmly anchored into the banks (Figure 8) and planted with alders (Figure 9) to provide nat ural and permanent improvement. The deflectors speed up the flow and create live pools for big trout.

W

E CAN BE THANKFUL that many miles of Maine streams do not need improvement, but those that do are a "lost resource" until we find the funds to complete the stream restoration program.

Figure 9

Maine Fish and Game - Spring, 1965

Warden Rescue

Unit

Conducting searches for drowning victims has long been a responsibility of the Warden Service of the Maine Fish and Game Department. Now, to make this unpleasant-but-necessary task easier and faster, the Warden Rescue Unit is being trained in SCUBA diving and underwater recovery techniques.

The six-man unit trained in indoor pools last winter, and shortly after ice-out this spring, the men were back at it again, this time in the cold waters of Branch Lake where actual recovery conditions were simulated.

Instruction was provided by members of the Dow Air Force Base Divers' Club.

The Warden Rescue Unit was originally designed to be a mountain rescue team to perform search and rescue missions in mountainous terrain.

Team members received mountain climbing training last winter, as shown in the picture story in the last issue of Maine Fish and Game.

The rugged men of the Warden Rescue Unit are all volunteers and are on call at all times to carry out a rescue or recovery mission anywhere in the state. Their duties as rescue unit members are in addition to their regular functions as fish and game wardens. It is comforting to know that these trained men stand ready to serve if needed.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

Tearn work and co-operation are the watchwords in underwater recovery work-and that includes suiting-up .

W ardens lea rned SC UBA diving fundamentals at indoor tra ini ng session s during the wi nte r. M/Sgt. Jeff Coope r, left, and his atte ntive studen ts, wa rde ns G lenn Speed and Don G ray, he ld pool-side check of di ver's equipment.

7

Not for the cold-blooded!

The first outdoor diving session was at Branch Lake shortly after ice-out.

It's snorkels, flippers, and air tanks as the Warden Rescue Unit simulates an underwater recovery.

The six-man Warden Rescue Unit and one of their instructors. Left to right, wardens Charles Merrill, Donald Gray, Glenn Speed, Eric Wight, Charles Davis, Donald Walker, and instructor Duke Macalush.

8

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

By answering some important questions, fishery biologists have unlocked the door to management of a top-ranked food of game fish, the smelt.

smelts in some lakes the same as the larger smelts in other lakes? Can an introduced smelt population reproduce successfully if it has no tributary stream for spawning as its parents did?

Will introduced smelts grow larger, faster, or slower than their parents? Will they live as long? Will the introduced smelt population spawn at the same time as their parents?

Fishermen and fishery scientists alike have asked these same questions, and others. How much of each factor (spawning site, growth, length of life, and spawning time) is controlled by heredity? How much by environment? What effect will newly introduced smelts have on the growth of salmon; of togue; of brook trout?

A

RE THE "NEEDLE"

........

By Robert S. Rupp and Malcolm A. Redmond, Fishery Biologists

So as a part of Maine's continuing statewide melt studies, the Fi h and Game Department has made everal experimental smelt introductions. Smelt eggs from each of six lakes with naturally occurring smelt populations were introduced into six lakes with no natural smelt population. In addition, smelt eggs were introduced into three lakes where the existing smelt population had been chemically removed along with other species by use of rotenone.

A common belief held for many years is that the small or "needle"

smelts of some water are in some way different from the larger smelts found in other water . It is true that in some waters smelts do not get longer than three or four inches or older than age II, while in other lake they get much larger and older.

However, several of our experimental introductions have shown that large smelts can develop from eggs of small smelts and vice versa. One of our best examples of this was at Little Concord and Shagg ponds near Woodstock in Oxford County.

Ten years ago, Shagg Pond had a population of large smelts, and Little Concord Pond had a population of small smelts. Then, in 1957, Shagg Pond was reclaimed, and all fish in it were killed. The following spring, we collected smelt eggs at Little Concord Pond and stocked them at Shagg.

The graph shows what happened; the offspring of the Little Concord Pond eggs are now growing in Shagg Pond just about as fast and just about as large as the

9

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SHAGG 1957

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LITTLE

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CONCORD

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1958

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II AGE

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

a

m

1964

m:

Total lengths of sme lts at each age at Shagg Pond before reclamation in 1957 and at Shagg Pond now. The smelts now present at Shagg Pond were introduced from Little Concord Pond in 1958. These data show that the environment of Shagg Pond allows smelts of the little Concord stock to reach larger sizes and greater ages than they do at Little Concord. (Graph by authors) 9

smelts that had been there before Shagg Pond was reclaimed. The "needle" smelts of Little Concord turned into "spikes" when introduced into Shagg.

Other introductions have shown the same and other differences in growth. As an opposite example, eggs from Branch Lake, where smelts grow to lengths of eight to ten inches, were stocked at Basin Pond and resulted in a population which grows no longer than about five inches. Conversely, eggs from Cold Stream Pond, where smelts seldom exceed five inches, have produced a population at Coleback Lake which has fish commonly exceeding eight inches.

All of our experimental introductions confirm that it is the conditions in the individual lakes which control growth rate and maximum size, and that large smelts and small .smelts differ only because they are living in different environments.

It might be argued that because Shagg Pond had been reclaimed and all competing species except brook trout removed, better growth could be expected. Or that the fast g1¡owth of smelts at Shagg now is just a temporary condition which will revert to normal as the population matures. But these argu::nents do not hold water in the case of the Shagg Pond situation. The introduced smelts attained and have continued to attain the same lengths as the smelts which were present in Shagg Pond before reclamation. The Shagg Pond introductions were made in 1958 and 1959. A full life cycle of smelts has grown up, after all the smelts from the original stocking should have died.

The Branch Lake - Basin Pond transfer provides another interesting experiment in the adaptability of smelts. Branch Lake smelts spawn mainly in tributaries although some shore spawning does take place under certain conditions. Basin Pond, with no tributaries, was stocked with one collection of eggs from Branch Lake tributaries. When the young from this single egg introduction reached maturity, they immediately utilized shorespawning areas. The Basin Pond smelts are now abundant enough to be an important food of the brook trout.

The earliest smelt spawning run we know about occurs under the ice at Smelt Brook, Cold Stream Pond. If you know of

others, let us know; we would welcome the information. This run begins consistently between February 15 and 20, ending usually between February 25 and March 10. On the other hand, Coleback Lake smelts before reclamation were among the latest spawners we knew about; they ran in mid- or late May. Cold Stream smelts, introduced into Coleback, now spawn between March 1 and 20, following very closely the time (slightly later) of the parent Cold Stream run and approximately twenty days earlier than any other run of which we are aware.

All other introductions resulted in populations with spawning times also similar to their parent stocks, making it clear that the early spawning character is controlled mostly by heredity.

0

use is this knowledge? One possibility is that we may be able to establish in the same stream two smelt runs which will maintain their separate identities due to their early and late spawning seasons.

This might insure a continued high level of smelt abundance if either the early or late run declined. Plans have been made to attempt this kind of smelt management.

The ultimate objective is to sustain and improve fishing. A good example of the importance of a smelt population to salmon growth is introduction of smelts into Long Pond, Piscataquis County. For a number of years before the introduction, salmon of legal .size were the exception at Long Pond. Even though the smelt introduction was made relatively recently (1960), many of the salmon now reach sixteen to twenty inches and are much more desirable to catch.

F WHAT POSSIBLE

Co-author Robert Rupp removes smelts from trap for counting.

Smelt are trapped in the tributary streams of lakes while on spawning run.

10

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

Caribou Report

By Kenneth W. Hodgdon Chief, Game Division Mother caribou and new-born 1964 calf on Thousand Acre Bog. Other calves were sighted last summer, and more are expected this year.

T

HE GREAT INTEREST in the twenty-three woodland caribou released on Baxter State Park on Dec. 3 and 4, 1963, is reflected in the questions still being asked of department personnel. We appreciate this interest and feel that it further guarantees reports of sightings of the animals.

Beginning the day after the liberation, Game Biologist Francis Dunn of Patten, Maine, was directed to make aerial observations, together with Warden Pilot Malcolm Maheu. The seventeen caribou were sighted within a few feet of Baxter Peak, the highest point on the mountain, and tracks were seen on the Northwest Plateau and tableland. Ground surveys to locate the six does liberated at Roaring Brook were conducted, almost as soon as the air flights. It was determined that these animals had split into two groups.

The aerial observations continued on a weekly basis for a short while, then at longer intervals until the normal spring break-up time in 1964. Usually, the animals on top of the mountain were in two groups but often less than a mile apart. Feeding on the "caribou moss" which grows in abundance among the rocks above tree-line, they appeared to remain in healthy condition.

As soon as it was feasible, in the winter of 1963-64, Dunn took a crew on the rigorous trip to the top of the mountain to obtain biological data on the animals and to retrieve the equipment that had to be left behind when the "mountain crew" was returned to the base camp by helicopter in the face of an oncoming snowstorm. This trip was fruitful in both respects.

Through the use of aerial color photography, it was possible to read the numbers printed on the backs of the caribou seen on the Plateau. Two of these animals were found to be from the group of six liberated at the Roaring Brook campsite, about 2,300 feet lower in elevation than the Plateau group. This proved that the lower group could climb up and join the others.

For a period of about four weeks, one of the does liberated at Roaring Brook lived near the top of Turner Mountain, just east of the release site and Mt. Katahdin. This animal came down off the mountain about the first of February.

When the Plateau area became heavily iced over in mid-winter, these caribou went down (westerly) into a spruce bog known as the Klondike, but later returned

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

when the ice conditions melted out. This reaction to such conditions is reported from the Gaspe Peninsula caribou herd, also.

The first evidence of the spring wanderlust in 1964 came when three animals were sighted in late February on Chamberlain Lake, and the sightings were verified by Biologist Dunn. Later when the Plateau herd left the mountain, caribou were reported, and verified, from Ashland to the north, First West Branch Pond to the southwest, Millinocket Lake area to the south, and the PattenIsland Falls area to the east where the bulk of the animals apparently chose to spend the summer. Canadian authorities in Fredericton, New Brunswick, are co-operating by attempting to check on a report of two animals crossing into New Brunswick.

A cow with new-born calf was located on Thousand Acre Bog in Island Falls on May 29, 1964, indicating that calving in Maine was on schedule. As many as eight calf sightings were reported and verified, but some of these could have been duplications. It did indicate reasonably good productivity, nevertheless.

When October came, the caribou started to move again, and a few animals as well as verified tracks were seen in the vicinity of Baxter State Park. Despite three winter ground checks by Dunn and his crew - one to the top of Mt. Katahdin and two on the lower ground north and east -no evidence of the animals was found. Nor could they be observed from the air on or in the vicinity of the mountain during the fifteen flights made by Pilot Maheu.

In late February, 1965, a farmer and a survey crew independently reported sighting a cow and last year's calf in the Island Falls area. These animals were found to have remained in a relatively small area of dense cedars and firs where ground observation was difficult and aerial observation impossible. Other animals have been reported in the same general area.

This indicates that the mild winter of 1964-65 and the availability of a quantity of good quality food in these areas of thick cover made it possible for the animals to live successfully in areas where they could not be observed. Possibly, with a normal winter, they will seek the more open areas of high ground, but only time will tell.

The next activity will be flights to observe any calves that may be born this year. Late May and early June is the time for calving, and we hope for success in locating some of these youngsters. Prompt reporting of sightings of these animals has been very helpful in the past, and we would appreciate a continuation of this help.

11

Fishery Biologist Stuart DeRoche releases young salmon in Kennebunk River. Atlantic and land locked salmon were stocked in th is southern Maine rive r th is spring in an attempt to start a salmon fishery t here.

I & E Photographer Bi ll C ross took pictures of the many valuable paintings in the State House in co-operation with Maine Art Commission.

Progranis â&#x20AC;˘ ID

Fishery biologists Raymond DeSandre, left, and Charles Ritzi trapped smelts in Rangeley Lake tributaries as part of a continuing study of the lake's sa lmon. Smelt are an important part of a sa lmon 's diet.

Commissioner Speers, right, presented plaque to Francis E. Pearson , Jr. , vice-president of St. C roix Paper Co., in recognition of the company's $75,000 contribution toward St. Croix River fishway costs.

12

Pietures

New 468-acre game management area in Hodgdon was ded icated in honor of Lt. Gordon Manuel, a Hodgdon native who died from wounds received during World War II. Left to right: Mary B. Manuel, widow of Lt. Manuel; Glenn H. Manuel, brother; Evelyn Manuel, sister; Gordon Manuel, Jr., son; Game Biologist Francis Dunn (front); Arthur Bennett, Fish and Game Advisory Counci l member; Kenneth Hodgdon, Game Division chief; and Bruce S. Wright, Director of Northeastern Wi ld life Station in New Brunswick.

Completion of this fishway on Piscataquis River at Howland last fall was a major step in department's plan to restore Atlantic salmon runs in Penobscot River drainage.

Commissioner Speers, left, spoke to teachers at the opening session of Bryant Pond conservation school last summer, as school started its eighth year.

A field trip to inspect deer yard was part of the new, ten-week warden school held at the University of Maine. Malcolm W. Coulter (white jacket), associate professor of game management, and Game Biologist William Peppard (plaid jacket), were instructors for this trip.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

By Stuart E. DeRoche Fishery Biologist

E

shows that man became interested in diving as early as 400 B.C. when a Greek diver was employed to recover treasure from sunken Persian ships. Alexander the Great used divers to destroy defenses of Tyre about 333 B.C., and Alexander himself descended in some sort of diving bell. By 77 A.D., military devices began to use some kind of breathing apparatus. Vegetius, in 375 A.D., wrote a famous treatise on warfare and described diving hoods equipped with air pipes. Diving bells and' crude diving helmets were used at depths of sixty feet on old wrecks, and practical air pumps were developed before the end of the 1700's.

It is little wonder, then, with all the interest shown in diving and diving equipment since early history that SCUBA (pronounced SKOO'BA, meaning Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) came into being in the 1930's. This equipment allows for greater freedom of movement to the diver, and it means that his activities are no longer restricted to the limitations of air hoses, lifelines, etc.

During World War II, the U.S. Navy soon realized the potential of maneuverable "frogmen" and did much to perfect SCUBA equipment and diving techniques. Underwater demolition teams were invaluable to the Navy for sabotage and for harbor defensive and offensive warfare.

Veterans of these teams formed the nucleus of recreational diving after ARL y HISTORY

14

the war and were in part responsible for its rising popularity.

SCUBA gear found its way onto the civilian markets in 194 7, and by I 957, more than 200,000 divers were contributing to a forty million dollar industry. Professional people in many fields became interested in SCUBA equipment during the mid50's. By 1957, fifteen state fish and game agencies were using SCUBA gear and by 1960, forty states had joined the ranks. SCUBA is being used by television stations, commercial fishermen, geologists, engineers, and many others who have a need for underwater observations. Man's uses for SCUBA equipment are as numerous as his activities on and about the waters of the seas and inland lakes and rivers.

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among the leaders in the use of skin diving equipment in fishery biology. In 1957, a skin diver was hired by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game to make observations on a lake trout spawning area. From the observations made by this diver who had no training whatsoever in fishery biology - it became obvious that a fishery biologist trained in the techniques of skin diving would be valuable to the department.

In 1958, a fishery biologist from the Fishery Research and Management Division was trained and equipped with the necessary SCUBA diving gear. Soon, other biologists in the AINE WAS

division became interested in diving, and a diving group was formed.

This group is restricted to five divers who are located throughout Maine and they can easily co-ordinate their activities so that no diver is forced to operate alone.

It is difficult for a person who has never dived to realize how much can be seen and learned from underwater observations. A good part of this knowledge is perhaps academic in many respects; however, the feeling that you know what fish are doing in their natural environment because you have seen them doing it is most gratifying. It is something that cannot be obtained by simple means.

For example: how many non-divers can visualize the viciousness of a salmon when he attacks and kills a live minnow or how diligently a brook trout works to maintain himself in his niche and how he darts out to gobble up a floating mayfly as it drifts by? Who but a skin diver can realize how frustrated a male bass becomes as he protects his nest of eggs against a preying school of yellow perch or how amazing it is to observe the continuous silver flashings that a feeding school of fish makes as it moves through a "cloud" of plankton? Academic knowledge?

Possibly, but necessary to better understand the animal the biologist is trying to manage.

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valuable observations I have made to date are by snorkeling and free diving.

By swimming very slowly along the surface near shore or over a shallow reef, a biologist can approach within a few feet ( and occasionally only inches) of any number of species of fish. Lying motionless above them, he may observe their activities and behavior as long as he likes. Should he wish, he may get a closer look by slowly submerging among the fish and watching them while they swim about and continue with their activities. An underwater camera can be used to advantage in this situation by ERHAPS THE MOST

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

photographing fish in their natural environment.

Many times, near shores that are steep or littered with tree tops, roots, etc., seining for shallow water species of fish is impossible for the fishery biologist.

In this situation, the snorkel or breathing tube is useful to permit the biologist to identify most species at a glance; therefore, he can add to the lake survey data, fish that would otherwise be unknown to exist in a lake. In my own lake survey work, snorkeling has replaced shore seining as a more useful method of discovering the presence of the various species of shallow water fish.

Stream and river survey data can be greatly augmented by snorkeling in riffle areas and free diving in the deeper pools to determine the species of fish present, locate concentrations of fish, record stream bottom types, and determine spring seepage areas.

Only recently, skin diving provided information on the existence of brook trout in a Maine tidal stream.

By snorkeling and free diving the length of the tidal estuary, biologists noted that there were concentrations of brook trout in all of the deeper pools. This information was also valuable in locating trapping areas to obtain sea-run trout data.

Snorkeling is perhaps most valuable in evaluating the relative abundance of species of warm-water fish.

Often, the data from netting and trapping operations do not tell the biologist enough about the size and make-up of the population. Snorkeling in the areas these fish are known to frequent gives a truer picture of their abundance. This technique is exceptionally valuable in evaluating new introductions, determining the success of natural reproduction, locating concentrations of spawning fish, and evaluating spawning activity.

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CUBA DIVING enables the diver to remain underwater for longer periods without surfacing.

Commonly people ask, "How long can you stay underwater?" The answer to this question depends upon many things, but, generally, a tank of air under normal diving conditions will last about an hour. If strenuous swimming and movement are called Maine Fish and Game - Spring, 1965

for, more air is required by the diver, and he is limited to less time underwater.

People have been Jed to believe that a diver can see all kinds of big trout and salmon by just diving in a deep lake. Experience has shown that very few fish are seen at great depths - probably not because they are not there but because they can elude the diver long bfore he has a chance to see them. Observations made of trout and salmon in shallow water support the statement that they behave about the same as all fish do in the presence of a diver. When first approached, they will dart away, but if not pursued, they will go about their activities and even swim up to a motionless diver once they become accustomed to his presence.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game has used SCUBA diving for a variety of purposes. Perhaps its greatest uses are for: I. providing more timely studies of snorkeling observations; 2. making underwater photographs; 3. locating and evaluating underwater spawning areas for lake trout; 4. locating and retrieving Jost equipment (nets, trawls, etc.); 5. observing gillnet efficiency in capturing fish; 6. discovering marked and tagged fish in concentrated areas; 7. examining hatchery water intake pipes for leaks; 8. evaluating fish population size in a pond following chemical reclamation; and 9. observing the operation of a deep-water trawl.

SCUBA diving is being used to observe the entrances of traps and fishways and to check weirs for holes or damage where fish escapement is

possible. Now, in many areas, we can set nets and traps in a lake or stream that has been previously explored by a diving biologist who knows the areas fish routinely frequent and the avenues of common fish passage.

Only this past year, skin diving was used to locate spawning salmon, and divers assisted in circling these fish with a seine so that they could be captured for egg-taking purposes.

The divers actually drove the fish into the path of the seine much as a cowboy herds cattle into a corral.

A few years ago, skin diving over a lake trout spawning area provided the department with information concerning the early life of the lake trout. Previously, this information could only be theorized or speculated upon.

Last year, at Sebago Lake, skin diving was used to determine if the spawning salmon at Long Lake, Naples, were from Sebago Lake or were Long Lake drop-downs. By being able to swim near these fish, the biologist identified many of them (by fins that had been clipped) as Sebago Lake salmon.

Likewise, spawning salmon observed by skin diving in front of the screen at Sebago Lake's outlet dam were identified by fin clips and tags. This observation cleared up previous speculation that perhaps the Sebago Lake hatchery strain of salmon was restricted to inlet spawning tributaries such as the Jordan River and Crooked River.

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in all of its forms is a welcome addition to the fishery biologist's collection of nets, seines, traps, scientific equipment, and knowledge that enables him to do a better job and to learn more about fish. Its values to the field of fishery biology have not been fully realized due to its relative newness; however, more uses are being discovered as experience is gained in this field.

Like any technique, it has its limitations, but its place in the field of fishery biology has definitely been established.

KIN DIVING

After Coleback Lake was reclaimed, divers collected dead fish to determine total amount oF fish life lake supported.

15

Safe Boating ROM THE DAYS when crude dugouts, rafts, and bark canoes traveled our waterways, boating has grown to a point where today more than forty-five million Americans enjoy pleasure boating on our lakes, streams, and coastal waters. The exact number of pleasure boats is not known, but current estimates would probably be in the vicinity of eight and one-half million.

Obviously the uncrowded waters enjoyed by our early boatmen are fast becoming crowded. With more than one person in five taking to the water annually, problems have been raised that were never dreamed of - problems of pollution, of access to waterways, of safeguarding the rights of all water users, and of securing just and equitable boating legislation.

Maintaining boating's safety record is another problem that must be considered by all with interest in the sport. So far, boating's record has been an excellent one. While the number of boats has risen quite rapidly, there has not been an equivalent rise in the number of boating accidents. LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY. The main element in boating safety is simply the use of COMMON SENSE. The overwhelming majority of boating enthusiasts know that to get the maximum from their craft they must behave with the same prudence they use in their lives ashore.

The purchase of a boat carries with it certain responsibilities, both legal and moral. Compliance with federal and state laws and regulations is mandatory, but equally important is the moral responsibility to be considerate of others. Here in Maine, we have the Maine boat law

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16

â&#x20AC;˘

IS

which applies to both coastal and inland waters: The law sets forth certain requirements for the numbering, equipping, and operation of boats. Unfortunately, laws and regulations are not sufficient in themselves as a means of assuring the safety of our waters and the people who use them. We've all seen how ineffective highway or traffic regulations can be if drivers are careless or deliberately ignore them. The same problem can and does arise in boating, especially when boats are operated by "hot rudders."

FUN many other people connected with boating that the lack of adequate ( or in many cases, the lack of any) boating knowledge or experience is probably the largest contributor to accidents on the water. A close second is sheer carelessness or the failure to use common sense. Knowledge is necessary. You should know about your own boat, what makes it go, its limits in seaworthiness, load carrying ability, and speed. You should know the rules of the road, rights of other boats, laws and regulations, and required equipment.

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CAN WE contribute to safer boating? It's easy - just educate ourselves and others in the proper handling, equipping, and respect of boats and the waters in which they travel. There is no doubt in the mind of the writer and of

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Don't Be A Nautical Nitwit

Maine Fish and Game- Spring, 1965

By Albert E. MacLennan, Past Commander Casco Bay Squadrons a unit of the United States Power Squadrons

ow LET'S EXPLORE some of the more common causes of boating accidents.

Capsizing - probably one of the most frequent accidents, particularly in small boats, but not necessarily limited to small craft.

The cause - most often just plain O VERLOADING and / or poor load distribution. Would you put an elephant in the back seat of your car?

Common sense tells you it's a pretty ridiculous idea. It's just as foolish to overload your boat. Remember, the number of seats doesn't always indicate your craft's load capacity.

Too many family groups start out in small boats loaded with more passengers than the boat should carry, plus the added weight of an outboard and gas tanks. This happens more often than not when the water is calm as a mill pond - everything smooth, not a cloud in the sky. Little does the operator realize what the

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SAFETY CHECK LIST 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Approved lif e-saving device for each person.

P r oper lighting (lig ht not r equired if boat is not operated after dark) .

Bailing bucket.

Boat hook.

Fire extinguisher.

Paddle or oars.

Fenders.

Horn or whi stle.

Tool kit.

Anchor.

Line.

Gasoline can s (spare) First-aid kit.

Flashlight.

Bilge pump.

Maine Fish and Game-Spring, 1965

weatherman ha in store - those little ripples that suddenly turn into waves washing over the sides of the heavily laden craft. There doesn't have to be a change in the weather to cause an upset. When a boat is so loaded that the free-board ( the distance between the surface of the water and the gunwale) has been reduced to little or none, it won't take much moving around of the passengers to cause an upset or swamping. We've observed a rather large boat capsize when the passengers all rushed to one side to wave at another boat. When it happens, it happens fast!

Lack of lifesaving equipment-a primary factor in the loss of many lives which might otherwise have been saved had some proper equipment been available. You are required to carry an approved lifesaving device for each person aboard your craft, if the craft comes under the numbering requirement.

It's only common sense to carry adequate life preservers on any boat, whether or not it requires numbering. Assuming you have the required equipment, be very sure it is in working order. It's not much good to the person overboard if it won't support him . Frequent checking of lifesaving devices, as well as other emergency equipment, is a wise move on the part of all boat owners. When you sto~ such items aboard your boat, make certain they are readily accessible to all who might need them.

Children and non-swimmers should wear life jackets or belts if there is any sign of bad going or other danger. Better to feel a little foolish perhaps and come home safe than to risk your life.

Engine breakdowns-can often be more than just an annoyance. Do you know what makes your engine tick? Know where your gas lines are? How to change a spark plug ( if you have a spare plug on board)?

How to check your battery? We don't intend to suggest that all boat operators should have the ability to be mechanical geniuses - but it doesn 't take much to learn at least the simple things about your power plant. Running out of fuel is right up at the top of the list as a cause of engine failure. This can be eliminated if you learn to check your tanks BEFORE leaving the dock. A second cause which can be reduced by pre-sailing checks is in the battery and power lines. If there are ample fuel and ignition power, the troubles are probably in the engine itself.

Spark plugs, coils, water pumps, fuel pumps, etc. are all suspect. We do not intend to attempt coverage in detail, we merely point out that some basic knowledge of your engine is important. Nothing will put a chilJ on an otherwise pleasant cruise any quicker than to sit there with no way to move the boat.

And in bad weather - - - - .

Fire-the most horrifying of emergencies. Bad enough when it happens on land, it is much more terrible on the water.

Most of our pleasure boats are operated by gasoline engines or motors. A half teacup of gasoline can be as explosive as a stick of dynamite. Properly handled, it is relatively safe - but - be careless for an instant, and BOOM! - WHAT HAPPENED? Ever notice a sort of shimmery wave or vapor rising in the sun when your car is being gassed up? Those waves of shimmering vapor are gas fumes which are highly volatile. They are not always visible, but any spark or flame is capable of starting a fire. When refueling, you can't be too careful.

Most important of all, DON'T SMOKE or allow others to smoke.

Put out all flames and shut off sparkproducing machinery. Have a filled 17

fire extinguisher nearby and be sure it is in operating condition. Keep the hose of fill-can nozzle in contact with the tank to prevent static sparks.

Don't spill any gasoline. If you do, wipe it up immediately. On outboards with removable tanks - fill them on the dock, and don't fill the tank completely. Gasoline expands in summer heat. If your boat has closed areas, close all hatches and ports while refueling. Before starting the engine, open all hatches and ports for ventilation. Run the bilge blower for at least five minutes. If you don't have a blower, open the engine cover or hatch for the same period of time. Sniff in the lower part of the tank and engine compartment. If you smell gasoline, don't start until you know why, and do something to eliminate it.

Reckless operating - an accident cause that's not much different from the hot rodding automobile driver problem. It must be said, however, that not all "hot rudders" are inexperienced or young. The law provides certain penalties for carelessness, but enforcement is not easy. The many miles of lakes, streams, and coastal waters make it difficult to cover adequately the area involved. But there is one difference when it comes to the real boating enthusiast. He is not only interested in his own safety and pleasure, he has a sincere desire to promote the safety of others. This is not an altruistic approach so much as perhaps a selfish desire to protect his family, guests, and boat by making boating in general a more safe sport. The showoff types who know only two speeds - "full throttle and stopped" - are menaces, not only to themselves but to other people. In a boat, there are four directions to watch when you are out in open water. It's not the same as driving a car. Another boat can come towards you from almost any direction. You don't have brakes to stop you, and neither does the "hot rudder."

Recalling what has been said in 18

WHAD' YA

NEAN

UNSAFE: 1

this article about freeboard and overloaded boats points up a need to remind you what the wake of a boat can do. Undoubtedly you've noticed the wave pushed out by the bow of a boat as it moves through the water.

The larger the boat and the more speed, the more wake. This wave does not stop moving when the boat causing it has goP-e by. It rolls on until it hits something. Ever been anchored peacefully in some quiet pond or lake, just about to catch that prize fish, when WOOSH some #")&% ¢# fool goes tearing by with a big grin and a bigger wake? The same type leaves docks with his throttle wide open and runs in close to beaches, causing frequent damage for which he is liable, if someone will report him. You may not realize it, but damage suits from this cause have cost the defendants plenty. Don't be careless yourself, and you'll help set the example for the rest. permit mention of all the foolish actions which fall into the reckless category. One which should not be overlooked, however, is the operation of highpowered outboards by children. You wouldn't let a ten- or twelve-year-old take your automobile out on the highway. Believe me, the damage even a ten foot skiff can do when equipped with an outboard is something to wonder about. If you permit your youngsters to use outboards indiscriminately, you should be ready to pay the consequence.

PACE DOES NOT

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Don't forget, it may be your own child's life you save by being CAREFUL.

Above all, DON'T BE SMUG. You may consider yourself as not being a careless or reckless operator - BUT - you fall into this class if you neglect to operate or equip your boat as required by law and what you know is required by COMMON SENSE. If a life is lost, your boat is disabled, or someone else's property is damaged by your failure to act, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE. Let's sum it up - carelessness can be avoided - lack of at least rudimentary knowledge of your boat can be corrected - lack of sufficient boating lore to handle your craft safely can be overcome through free educational courses available to you.

IT'S YOUR MOVE. For More Information For information about nearest Squadron or Auxiliary Flotilla write to: United States Power Squadrons P.O. Box 510, Englewood, N. J. 07 631, or Director of Auxiliary 1st Coast Guard District, 703 Customhouse, Boston 9, Mass.

Marine Safety publications and pamphlets may be obtained upon request from the nearest Marine Inspection Office of the United States Coast Guard. In Maine, this office is located at 7 6 Pearl Street, Portland.

For information on the Maine Boat Law or to register your boat in Maine, contact the Bureau of Watercraft Registration and Safety, State House, Augusta, Maine.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

AtQantic ÂŁ.aQmon lRipont

By Alfred L. Meister Salmon Commission Biologist

Biologist Richard Cutting measures salmon smolt trapped at inlet of Beddington Lake.

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following World War II, management programs for our natural resources became more intensive. This development is particularly true with the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), where state, federal, and international agencies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have taken giant steps in the maintenance and restoration of this historically renowned sport fish.

But management practices alone are not enough, and it soon became apparent that although the life cycle of the salmon was well known, many aspects of salmon biology remained as unexplored as the Americas at the time of Columbus. How many smolts will a river produce? How long does it take salmon to migrate through a lake?

Where do salmon go when they enter the ocean? What is the age composition of our salmon spawning runs?

These and many other questions were raised, and research became the twin brother of management as forces were marshalled to supply the answers.

In Maine, research activities are centered about the counting fence and fishway traps on the Narraguagus River. Results to date indicate that we can expect to produce approximately three smolts per one hundred square yards of nursery area and that these smolts will migrate downstream at approximately one-half mile per day through the deadwater areas of the drainage. Predation may at times be a serious factor and in some areas can account for a loss of one-third or more of the migrating smolts.

N THE PERIOD

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

International co-operation in marking and tagging studies reveals that Maine salmon travel considerable distances. Maine-marked and/ or tagged salmon have been recovered in commercial nets as far north as the Arctic Circle and are frequently taken along the coast of Newfoundland. Preliminary data indicate that a common feeding ground for North American and European salmon may exist off the coast of Greenland.

The use of marked and tagged known-age salmon has materially aided us in determining the age composition of the spawning runs in our Maine rivers. Minor fluctuations in the age-class composition of the runs do occur.

Over a period of years, we find that grilse, relatively scarce in Maine waters, account for 2 to 3 per cent of the run. Salmon returning to the natal river on their first spawning run are by far the largest group and account for approximately 87 per cent of the spawners. The remaining 11 per cent is composed of older, and usually larger, fish that have successfully survived the rigors of spawning and are returning a second or third time.

The above research studies are continuing to augment those of management where adult enumeration, population, and habitat inventories, and tests of newer and larger fish passage facilities are being investigated.

In addition, our research program is studying the food availability and preference of young salmon, the use of salmon blood types to determine races, estuarial studies of the migrating smolts, the interaction between salmon and trout populations, predator-prey relationshjps, and controlled hatchery experiments to produce a better fish.

These studies will increase our knowledge of the freshwater phases of the salmon and, combined with our limited marine investigations, will ultimately benefit the angler and the economy of the state.

Through studies such as these and with the increasing co-operation of federal and international agencies, our questions are slowly being answered. New tools for management are being developed, and in the light of increased knowledge, the unexplored areas of salmon biology are shrinking. Restoration of our salmon streams is a reality, and we may yet see former salmon streams, where salmon had disappeared before the memory of living man, returned to the rank of productive waters.

19

SAL A handsome fellow, the spotted salamander makes an interesting pet.

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it has been nearly two hundred million years since the Age of Amphibians slipped away into prehistory, enough members of this interesting class of animals remain so that most of us should know more about them than we do. Probably the most misunderstood representatives of the Class Amphibia are the salamanders.

Indeed, many people consider salamanders - when they are aware of them at all - as lizards! Now lizards belong to an entirely different animal group, the reptiles, and if we are going to clear up some of the confusion concerning these creatures, here is as good a place as any to begin.

There are a number of ways by which amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders) can be separated from reptiles (lizards, snakes, alligators) , but among the quickest are these two: reptiles have toenails and dry, scaly skin, but amphibians have moist, soft skin and are without toenails. If we look far enough in the world of nature, we can find exceptions to nearly any rule, but by using the preceding sentence as a guide, you can easLTHOUGH

20

ily distinguish salamanders from lizards. This is not much of a problem in Maine, since we have no native lizards; escaped captives sometimes turn up, though, among them horned lizards ("horned toads"), anoles ("chameleons"), and iguanas.

But if Mother Nature passed us by in the lizard department, she left Maine enough salamanders so that everyone should be quite happy. We have at least nine kinds in the state, and a brief look at each of them may be interesting.

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is a large (five to eight inches long), dark-colored species with a double row of orange-yellow spots down the back. Perhaps because they distrust its spectacular coloration, people are often wary of this creature, and there is a widespread myth that it is a "poison lizard." Nothing could be further from the truth; indeed, this is one of the best species to keep as a pet. Since its life history is rather typical of salamanders, we will describe it in some detail.

HE SPOTTED SALAMANDER

In early spring, the adults migrate to the breeding pools, which are often tiny ponds in or near the woods. After mating, the females deposit a compact mass of about one hundred eggs enclosed in an envelope of jelly; this mass is usually about three inches in diameter and is attached to some submerged object. The eggs hatch in four to six weeks, depending on water temperature, and the greenish-yellow salamander larvae emerge. At this state, they have feathery gills and front leg buds, and soon the hind legs appear. By late summer or early fall, the larva transforms to the adult stage, leaving the water and acquiring the typical spotted coloration. From now on, the salamander will burrow under rocks, logs, and similar objects in moist woods, from which it will come forth each spring in the mating season.

A closely related species of similar size is the Jefferson's salamander. It also has a dark ground color, but instead of the yellow spots has flecks of bluishpurple on its sides and throat.

The life history is similar to that of the spotted salamander, and Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

A brief look into the world of an interesting but often overlooked group of animals.

The dusky salama nde r is found in damp areas throughout much of Maine.

AMANDERS

By Donald F. Mairs Fishery Biologist

like that species it is found throughout the state.

Familiar to most people who have worked anywhere in the Maine woods is the red-backed salamander. This slender species seldom exceeds three and one-half inches in length and usually has a broad, brick-red stripe down its back, with a mottled gray and white belly. Some specimens lack the red band, and in those, the back is a uniform dark gray. Red-backs are found under bark and logs, in moss and leaf mold, and in other damp places. Breeding occurs in such places, and the female lays her eggs in a nest cavity, usually in a rotten log. She often stays

with her eggs and young for some time. The larva of this species develops without ever entering the water.

Similar breeding habits are shared by t he dusky salamander, a comparatively robust species living around springs, streams, and seepages in the southern three-quarters of the state. The coloration of this animal is a nondescript grayish-brown, but a light stripe from the eye to the corner of the jaw will usually serve to identify it. The dusky averages about three and one-quarter inches in length, but can reach four and one-half inches.

The two-lined salamander is quite comparable in size and shape to the red-backed, but the stripe down its back is usually yellowish - brown, bordered on each side by a broad black line.

The yellowish stripe often has down its center another faint and broken black line. This is

essentially a brookside species, distributed throughout the southern two-thirds of the state. The eggs and larvae are to be found in running water.

Certainly one of the most often - encountered salamanders over the whole state is t he common newt. It begins life as a single egg deposited on an aquatic plant in quiet water and in this water undergoes its larval stage. Following thls, the newt enters the so-called "eft" stage.

It leaves the water, changes color from yellowish-green to orangered wit h crimson spots, and becomes essentially a land animal for one to three years. During this time, its skin is soft but granular in appearance, and the eft is found in moist woods.

These efts are often seen around puddles following summer rains, but it is interesting to note that they apparently sometimes drown when they tumble into water areas from which they cannot escape. Following the eft stage, the animal transforms again, this time to the adult newt so commonly found in ponds, pools, and

A broad black line on each side identifies t he two-lined sa lama nder.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

21

The eft stage (right) of the common newt is a land animal for one to three years. The adult (below) is completely aquatic.

front and hind feet (most other species have four on front and five on hind feet). It seems to prefer sphagnum bogs.

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quiet streams. The adult coloration is olive-green on the back with tiny black-bordered crimson spots; the belly is bright yellow with black spots; and the newt is about three inches long. It is now completely aquatic, as it was at the beginning of its life.

A species which remains wholly aquatic throughout life is the mud puppy. This is the largest salamander found in Maine and the only one known to have been introduced by man. Mud puppies accidentally escaped into the Belgrade Lakes drainage about twenty-five years ago and are now well established in some waters there. Outside Maine, they are widely distributed in eastern United States and southern Canada. This is a primitive salamander, and it retains large, feathery, bright red gills even when adult.

The color is blotched brown above and lighter 22

below. Although the average adult size is slightly less than a foot in length, some specimens grow to be seventeen inches long.

While it is true that mud puppies sometimes eat fish eggs and young fish, they are not serious predators upon game species.

Another sizeable variety is the spring or purple salamander.

Yellowish-brown with a salmon tinge, it grows to a length of slightly more than eight inches and is to be found in and around springs in the southern part of the state. The eggs are laid singly underwater, and the larvae are aquatic.

Not much is known of the distribution in Maine of our smallest species, the four - toed salamander. Averaging less than three inches long, it is brownish above with a bluish-white, blackspotted belly. As its name implies, it has four toes on both the

ow THAT we have discussed the different kinds of salamanders found in Maine, perhaps it would be well to consider the group as a whole in its relationship to the rest of the living world. As far as man is concerned, it is probably a fairly neutral assemblage, neither markedly beneficial nor greatly harmful. Some Indian tribes thought the mud puppy a choice morsel of food, but most of us would not consider it so. While salamanders feed mostly on insects, worms, sow - bugs and similar creatures, probably the species concerned are not of great significance to agriculturalists.

In the long run, we must admit that the human tendency to view different animals in terms of "good" or "bad" or dollars and cents is shortsighted and often inaccurate. Who can say with certainty what subtle balances of nature are influenced by such a seemingly insignificant group as the salamanders? It is probably best to defer a judgment, and to view salamanders for what we know them to be, interesting, harmless, and often handsome reminders of an age long gone.

Interesting Pets Most species of salamanders can be maintained in captivity, and sometimes individuals become interesting pets. If you would like to try this, put some salamanders in a terrarium with moss, leaves, etc. and a piece of bark under which they can hide. Keep the material moist, and provide a dish of water. Aquatic forms such as the mud puppy or adult newts must be kept in water, but they should have a rock or similar object so that they can crawl out if they wish. Small insects or worms can be fed, and even bits of meat will sometimes be accepted.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

Beaver Become Marsh Managers

By Harold M. Blanchard, Game Biologist, and Myron S. Smart, Biology Aide

l(

with one stone is considered to be quite a trick, and helping to solve two problems in wildlife management by one operation is often desirable but not always attained. One program begun experimentally by the Game Division of the Maine Fish and Game Department seems to be working out well and bringing about two desirable results. This consists simply of removing beaver which cause nuisances by the dams they build, and transporting them to areas where their dams will do some good. It results in a marsh-management program staffed by "resident engineers" who don't have to be paid.

Before explaining this program, it might be well ILLING TWO BIRDS

to establish its purposes. Removing the builders of dams that cause water to back up where man doesn't want it is obviously a profitable idea. But moving the beaver to selected sites brings about far reaching effects that might be discussed briefly.

HE MOST IMPORTANT type of wildlife habitat is the marsh area. Many of our furbearers depend on marshes for both food and habitation. Muskrats build their homes here and feed on the succulent grasses and fresh water mussels. The otter frolic

T

Marsh areas are an important source of food and shelter for wildlife.

By moving nuisance beaver, game biologists are helping create new marshes where they are desired.

Maine Fish and Game-Spring, 1965

23

in the water, catching fish for food, and they nest at the water's edge. Mink live in and near the marsh, feeding on frogs, crayfish, and smaller animals. The raccoon finds much of its food along the marsh's edge.

In Maine, waterfowl nest and raise their young in the marshes. Black duck, wood duck, whistlers, and ringnecks as well as other species are found in our marshland habitat. The annual contribution of waterfowl to the Atlantic flyway from Maine marshes is very considerable.

Marshes are also important in the lives of our big game animals. Moose use these areas extensively in the summer as primary feeding grounds. Deer feed on the tender growth around the water's edge, and bear frequent the cool damp borders of the wetland areas during the hot and dry summer months.

The edges of wetlands areas are used by partridge in dry seasons and furnish brood cover around these margins. Woodcock find lush feeding grounds in the soft mud and damp soil around the marsh borders. Even songbirds of various species feed on emerging aquatic insects of the marshes, and some nest and raise their young in these areas.

Marshes and wetlands areas have other beneficial effects from a conservation standpoint. The availability of water for fire protection is a major beneficial effect. With lowering of water tables in many sections of the country, marshes are becoming more important as reservoirs that slow down runoff and maintain a better soil-moisture condition. Marshes are also important to the angler, providing fish habitat for various species. In some locations, trout fishing is provided, and in others, the warm water species are benefited. the importance of wetlands areas and faced with a nuisance beaver problem, the Game Division during the past several years has developed a program in the central part of Piscataquis County whereby nuisance beaver are live-trapped and transplanted to sites where their activities can create marsh areas of benefit to other wildlife.

ECOGNIZING

R

Co-authors Myron Smart, left, and Harold Blanchard with live-trapped beaver. The animal will be moved unharmed to a potential marsh site and released.

These areas are located on private lands, and all transplanting is done with the co-operation of the landowners. Thus far, more than forty of these managed marshes have been created using beaver; more than six hundred acres of marsh has been developed.

Not all the beaver that were transplanted took up residence at the selected sites. About 75 per cent of the transplants were successful. The beaver colonies thus established were closed to trapping the first year, but as colony size increased, they were

Wire fence provided by biologists was used by beaver to anchor dam.

Maine Fish and Game- Spring, 1965

opened to trapping. A smaller number of beaver in a flowage leads to a longer flowage life because the available food lasts longer. When one of these managed flowages was trapped out, more beaver were introduced to take their place.

In some cases, the dams built by beaver were solid enough to retain water and create good marshes for several years after the animals were removed.

Several devices have been used to assist and encourage the beaver to build their dams in desired locations. A wire fence erected across a good site provides a convenient start for a family of beaver.

These animals are quick to recognize this construction aid; they use it to build their dam on, incorporating the fencing. A small piece of fencing at the upstream end of a culvert keeps the animals from building inside. Wooden flow pipes placed through the dam give us an opportunity to control water levels in flowages located on small watersheds.

The selection of sites is the most important criterion in judging whether or not a beaver will build at a specific location. There must first be an adequate flow of water and a good supply of beaver food. Transplanting is more likely to succeed in the early fall because beaver activity increases at this time of year as the animals prepare for winter.

One of the most successful types of site is an old dam; discontinued mill dams, old driving dams and old beaver dam sites are good potentials. Beaver placed in these areas - provided that food is adequate and water supply good - use the original dams to anchor their new construction. Often a little mud is all it takes to make a marsh. In most instances, these areas contain little or no timber of merchantable value as the soils are too wet to begin

with. Thus these "waste areas" can be converted to useful wildlife marshes using beaver as engineers.

Not all areas of the state lend themselves to this kind of intensive management. In areas of high beaver populations and much nuisance activity, this type of management has serious limitations. Some of the flowages in central Piscataquis County have produced excellent trout fishing. The relationships between beaver and trout are complex and generalities seldom apply. Each site has to be assessed on its individual merits. Often a flowage will support good trout populations for a few years and then deteriorate in quality until no trout are present.

A constant water level is important in a marsh, and beaver marshes do have reasonably constant water levels throughout the year. A flood of water will erode the dam, allowing a greater runoff, but as soon as the water level begins to drop, the beaver will repair the breaks and hold the water at about the original level. Conversely, in dry season, beaver are jealous of each drop of water and hold their flowages as full as possible. Thus, the beaver become resident engineers on the site and for pay require only water, food, protection, and understanding.

Aerial view of marsh created by relocated beaver.

Old man-made dam (arrows) was used by beaver as base for the new dam.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

25

MENACE IN MERRYMEETING

By Robert E. Foye Fishery Biologist

BAY, one of Maine's outstanding waterfowl areas ,_ has been invaded by Europe_an carp. This fish 1s the largest member of the mmnow family and, though it is not a creature from outer space, its presence is looked upon with grave apprehension

by Fish and Game Department personnel responsible for protecting important fish and game resources.

Actual time of the invasion is unknown, but historical records shed some light on the subject. In many Old World countries, carp were raised in small ponds for food.

European immigrants familiar with the fish were eager to grow them in this country, and in 18 77 , the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries decided that introduction and cultivation of carp would be desirable. Soon, government hatcheries began raising them. Many private citizens applied to the bureau for these fish for stocking purposes, and carp were distributed among applicants in all the eastern states.

The first stockings of carp in Maine were in 1880.

Available records reveal that several dozen introductions were undertaken in privately owned ponds in Maine between 1880 and 1896. In the years of 1886 and 1887 alone, some 1250 carp were distributed among sixty-one applicants in fifteen of Maine's sixteen counties. The introduction of carp into tidal waters of the Kennebec River may have been from escapement of fish stocked in a small pond in Augusta during this period.

Little information is available on the introductions of carp in public waters in Maine. They were stocked in Green Lake in Hancock County, but the time of stocking and the exact numbers are unknown. Halfmoon Pond in Waldo County also is believed to have been stocked, and doubtless other ponds received fish.

Fortunately, most introductions of carp in Maine were unsuccessful. The reasons for these failures are largely speculative, but the allotment of only small numbers to each individual water and the rough treatment which the fish received in make-shift transportation systems are probably responsible.

To appreciate fully why we take such a dim view of these fish, one must know something about the ecology of the species. Carp are typically associated with warmwater environments where they thrive in shallow, weedy areas of streams and ponds. Sometimes they enter swiftly

M

26

ERRYMEETING

flowing streams, especially when looking for suitable pawning areas or wandering about in search of food.

Carp are rarely found in deep cool areas of stratified lakes.

The feeding habits of carp play an important role in changing aquatic habitats. Bottom feeders, the carp relish a wide variety of food items, both plant and animal.

Carp feed by sucking up the bottom mud, ejecting it, and then eating food particles suspended in the water. Rooting in the bottom mud roils the water so that shallow waters often stay very muddy when carp are present.

Water plants require sunlight just as land plants do, and since sunlight cannot penetrate far in muddy waters large stands of valuable waterfowl food plants often are killed. Where carp are very abundant, such plants are literally torn up by the roots by the feeding fish. Tidal flushing and other factors have probably helped to protect the waterfowl foods in Merrymeeting, but some of our inland water would not fare so well.

Midge larvae are choice tidbits and are fed upon extensively, as are the immature stages of other aquatic insects. Tiny fresh-water shrimps, snails, and even fish and aquatic plants are sometimes eaten.

Both young and adults of several warm-water game fishes (pickerel and largemouth bass, for example) live in the shallow weedy areas of lakes and streams. Here they find protection, food , and conditions satisfying their spawning and nursery requirements. It is in these same areas that carp choose to live. Many Maine fishes use sight to find their food , and roily, muddy water severely handicaps them. In addition , nests and eggs of game fish are sometimes tom up or covered by the feeding and spawning activities of carp. Competition for food and space and destruction of the habitat by carp can have but one result- fewer game fish.

The CARP Carp in northern climates spawn in spring or early summer in shallow water areas. Large numbers of fish may concentrate in a chosen area and the eggs are broadcast. Spawning fish splash and cause such a commotion that concentrations can be located. The number of eggs produced is enormous and varies with the size of the fish.

A one-pound female may spawn 100,000 eggs and one of fifteen pounds some 2,000,000 eggs. The survival rate is high. Carp live and even thrive under adverse conditions of pollution, temperature, and predation from birds, animals, and other fish.

Maine Fish and Game- Spring, 1965

Carp growth varies with such factors as the food supply, length of growing season, and water temperature.

The average weight of carp in Merrymeeting Bay and its tributaries is less than five pounds, but individuals of more than ten pounds are common. In Germany, carp have grown as heavy as seventy pounds. The average life expectancy is less than ten years although in captivity they have lived to be more than fifty years old.

Vigorous swimmers, carp have the ability to jump vertically five or six feet. They can climb nearly every type of fishway ever designed. A 25-year average annual count shows fifteen thousand carp using the Bonneville Dam fishway on the Columbia River.

Fortunately, most of Maine's inland waters are presently uninhabited by carp. Outside of Merrymeeting Bay carp are only found in one small freshwater pond which flows into tidal waters of the Kennebec River, and in the Scarboro Marsh area of Cumberland County. Isolated populations in and around Merrymeeting Bay and Scarboro Marsh have been held in check by high dams and the apparent inability of carp to tolerate sea water. This has probably prevented the migration of carp along the coast and limited their access to other important river systems. Nevertheless, we are faced with a tremendous hazard - the possibility of carp spreading into other inland waters. Many states will sadly testify to the extent

of this hazard, as millions of dollars have been spent in attempts to control carp and undo the damage to countless thousands of acres of game fish water and waterfowl areas.

The spread of carp into our inland lakes and streams would likely spell disaster to game fish and pan fish populations. The effects of carp would be more pronounced in our shallow lakes and streams where warm-water fishing is extremely important to the state's economy.

Introductions of undesirable fishes (yellow perch, for example) have recently been made in some important Maine lakes by careless use of live bait. To stop the peril of carp spreading into new areas by this means, sportsmen should consider a regulation which would prohibit the taking of fish for bait from areas where carp are presently known to exist. While we already have a law which prohibits the sale and u e of carp and other spiny-finned fish for bait, there is still the risk of these fish becoming mixed with legal bait species and going unnoticed.

Biologists can sound the alarm, and wardens can enforce the laws, but in the final analysis the co-operation we get from sportsmen and bait dealers will be the decisive factor. Sometimes only a few pairs of carp are sufficient to close the door to good fishing.

What would Maine be without good fishing? Maine sportsmen know the answer.

Spine

KNOW THIS INTRUDER! Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

Carp are very undesirable in lakes and streams with game fish populations. Anglers using live bait must use extreme caution to prevent the spread of this species.

27

Notes

Harmless Buzzer

and Co1D1Dent Wildlife Quiz

SUBSCRIPTION NOTICE

5. When do smelt spawning runs take place in Maine?

We are sorry, but the circulation list for Maine Fish and Game Magazine has reached a ceiling, and we have been forced to start a waiting list. New subscription requests will be placed on file and added to the mailing list as soon as possible. We regret having to do this, but at present we cannot defray the increasing costs of producing and mailing the magazine by charging a fee.

Maine Fish and Game is published for the benefit of the public, in accordance with the aims of the Information and Education Division to create an interest and understanding in wildlife resources, the problems connected with management and conservation of the resource, and the work of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Game in accomplishing its objectives.

The Magazine is published twice a year, with the fall magazine designated as an annual report issue.

To be added to the "waiting list," simply send your name and your post office address--be sure it is the post office address--to the Information and Education Division, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, State House, Augusta, Maine 04330.

If you should change your residence, please let us know. Under our mailing rates, THE MAGAZINE IS NOT FORWARDED AUTOMATICALLY. Send your name, old post office address, and new post office address, and zip code.

6. How high can a carp jump? a. Can't jump; b. one foot; c. three feet; d. six feet.

NEW BEAR HUNTING GUIDE AVAILABLE

Note: Here is a test to see how closely you read this issue of Maine Fish and Game and how much of your reading you remember. If you miss any, you've been cheating and just looking at the pictures, so go back and read the whole magazine, then let your friends read it too! O.K., here we go ....

1. What purpose do fishways serve?

2. Do Atlantic salmon spawn only once?

3. True or false: Amphibians have toenails and dry, scaly skin, while reptiles have moist, soft skin and are without toenails.

4. True or false: Maine has no native lizards.

7. Why should steps be taken to prevent the spread of carp in Maine?

8. True or false: The Maine boat law applies to both coastal and inland waters.

9. Does the number of seats in a boat indicate the capacity of the boat?

10. \Vhat has happened to the caribou which were released on Mt. Katahdin in 1963?

(Answers are on next page) 28

The growing sport of bear hunting in Maine has resulted in a flood of inquiries being received by the Fish and Game Department from sportsmen interested in learning more about it.

To better handle these questions, a new publication entitled Bear Hunting in Maine has been prepared and is now available, free for the asking.

Address your requests to the Information and Education Division, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, State Office Building, Augusta, Maine 04330.

I wonder if you can help me . . . A few years ago . . . I heard an insistent loud buzzing noise .. . I came on a snake coiled in an old plowed fur row. This snake had its tail about three or four inches in the air and it was definitely making a buzzing sound by its vibrations ... A few days later we saw two more do the same thing . . . I wondered if you might tell me where I might find something about them or if perhaps you might have heard of them from others . . .

Mrs. Frank Cox E. Livermore, Maine â&#x20AC;˘ S ev eral species of harmless sn akes are k nown to vibr ate their tails w hen an gr y or disturbed, bu t they can make n o sound this way unless the tail vibr ates against leaves, twigs, etc. There are f requent r epor ts of this occurr ence, and the observ ers often w onder if they have seen a rattlesn ake. Maine has n o native poison ous sn akesam ong our other blessings-and i t is very li k ely that you saw a r ed king snake (milk snake), which occurs in central Maine. It might have been a garter snake or another species. In an y event, you may beli eve your eyes and ear s! Maine snakes are not on ly harmless bu t are beneficial in many ways, as they eat mice, insects, and so on.

CARIBOU CALF AT GAME FARM

Arriving too late to get his (or her) mug shot in this issue of Maine Fish and Game, a caribou calf was born at the department's game farm at Gray on June 5.

At last report, the calf was doing well, although its gender had not yet been determined.

Mother caribou was at first quite possessive of the little calf, but game farm Superintendent John Bentley reports that the old gal has calmed down a mite and will permit human inspection of her youngster from fairly close range.

The calf, mama and papa, and another caribou-shall we call him "uncle" ?-are part of the animal exhibit that receives much public attention at the game farm.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

ADDRESS CHANGES

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Growth of Maine Fish and Game has brought with it several problems, and we have had to make some changes in our procedures for handling circu!ation difficulties. We want to acquamt you with some of these problems and the methods we must take to solve them.

1. Until now, when magazines were returned to us by the post office-undeliverable for one reason or anotherwe have made an effort to learn the correct address of the subscriber and then to remail the magazine. This involves considerable time and, of course, some expense. Pressure of other work, meantime, indicating a greatly increased interest in ourdoor Maine, has made searching a definite problem.

We can no longer undertake such searches to deliver a free magazine, much though we want you to read and enjoy Maine Fish and Game.

Our policy must now become as follows : When magazines are returned to us as undeliverable, we will remove the subscribers' names from the mailing list. From the waiting list of names of persons who want the magazine, we will trans£ er names to the active mailing list. If a former subscriber who has been dropped because he failed to notify us of an address change inquires about his magazine, his name will be added to the waiting list, which now contains several hundred names; he may miss one or more issues.

This policy is the fairest to all our subscribers and prospective subscribers. It places on them the obligation for keeping us informed of the addresses and changes therein. We hope you understand our reasons for this announcement and that you will keep us informed of your correct post office address and Zip Code.

As you will see in another notice in this section, still another change is scheduled for next year, which will eliminate the waiting list and enable us to start new subscriptions without undue delay.

The fall issue of Maine Fish and Game will contain a card which must be filled in and returned to us if you wish to continue receiving the magazine. Please DON'T write us now; wait for the card in the fall issue!

There are several reasons for this requirement.

For one thing, we must soon have the correct Zip Code number for subscribers, in order to continue to qualify for the low cost mailing rate we now enjoy.

For another, we will be using automatic equipment to help make our filing and addressing of the magazine more efficient, and we must have correct addresses-with Zip Codes-in setting up the improved system.

And finally, we will be able-through action of the Legislature-to charge a nominal fee for the magazine and thus do away with the "waiting list" of prospective recipients of Maine Fish and Game. The waiting list was established after rising costs forced us last year to establish a ceiling on the number of copies we could print. Many readers, and prospective readers, have offered to pay for their copies, but we have had no lawful way of accepting money.

As soon as the mechanics and so on have been worked out, all readers will be notified of the procedure that will be set up for converting to a paid subscription basis. The cost will be moderate, and we hope we will keep the readers who are now on our mailing list.

License Fees NONRESIDENT SEASON, FISHING . . . . . . . .

15-DAY, FISHING . . . . . . . . .

(EXCHANGEABLE FOR SEASON . . . . . . . . . . . . · · · · JUNIOR, FISHING . . . . . . . . .

THREE DAY, FISHING . . . . . .

BIG GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SMALL GAME . . . . . . . . . . .

JUNIOR, SMALL GAME .... .

ARCHERY .. . . . . . ... .. .. .

$

8.75 5.75

3.25) 2.25 3.75 25.25 10.25 5.25 10.25

RESIDENT FISHING . . .

HUNTING . .

HUNTING & ARCHERY . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FISHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . .

. . . .

2.75 2.75 5.25 4.25

For other fees please write to the department.

The 102nd Maine Legislature enacted a new schedule of fees for licenses issued by the Fish and Game Dept. These fees go into effect Jan. 1 1966 and a table showing them ~ill app'ear in the fall issue of Maine Fish and Game.

Another change, of special interest to bear hunters, becomes effective this Sept. 3. On that day, the big game license will be required for bear hunters. It should be noted that nonresident small game licenses -which will allow the taking of bear until Sept. 3-may NOT be exchanged for the big game license for a fee. Such exchanges were allowed until a law change two years ago but are not lawful now.

Answers to Wildlife Quiz on Page 28 1. Fishways permit migrating fish to get past da~s which restrict their movements. Important game and commercial .fish species are ~nable to reach their spawning areas in rivers and streams which have dams without fishways.

2. No. Studies in Maine show that appro:eima~ly 11 per cent of the spawners will return to spawn a second or third time.

3. False. Reptiles have toenails and dry, scaly skin, and amphibians have moist, soft skin and are without toenails.

4.

LITTER Many sportsmen's organizations, big and little, have tackled the litter problem by conducting cleanup trips to rid favorite camping and fishing sites from litter left by careless and thoughtless individuals. Here's an example: Triangle Fish and Game Association of Mechanic Falls, Maine, cleaned up the tenting area at Aziscoos Lake.

Members, concerned about the unsightliness of litter, posted signs asking visitors to help keep the area clean.

Maine Fish and Game- Spring, 1965

True.

5. Earliest known runs begin in mid-February, and the latest spawners run until mid- or late May. 6.

(d)

7. The largest members of .the ~innow family, carp would be very undesirable fish in Maine, competmg with game fish for food and space and destroying game fish habitat.

8.

True.

9. Not always. boat has.

10

Keep plenty of free-board, no matter how many seats your

B · fl they have survived two Maine winters, calves have been born, ·d few caribou have been seen by visitors to the Baxter State Park !~ea:urt is hoped that the herd will continue to grow and become permanently established in Maine.

1:1: i'

29

Pool type fishway at outlet of Cold Stream Pond.

A Review of the Progress of Fishway Construction in Maine

Pictures and Story

By Laurence F. Decker, Chief Engineer

D

reason why we do not have the abundance of fish enjoyed by the early settlers. Any obstruction in a river or stream which interferes with the migration of fish , particularly during their spawning periods, must have a serious effect upon natural production. Brook trout and salmon spawn in swiftly running streams with gravel bottoms, shad in deep riffle areas of main rivers, whereas alewives utilize the quiet waters of ponds and lakes. A dam may either prevent the fish from reaching these spawning waters or prevent the newly hatched young from returning to lakes or the ocean to complete their growth.

Our early colonists noted with pleasure the abundance of fish in our waters, for these fish were to form an important source of food. In the spring, the great Atlantic salmon, and alewives and shad in quantities to blacken the water, left the ocean to fight their way up rivers and streams, the salmon and shad to spawn in the riffles, the alewives to spawn as soon as they reached lakes and ponds. In addition to harvesting a portion of these sea-run fish, the settler could always 30

AMS ARE A MAJOR

catch a fine mess of the beautiful brook trout from a nearby lake or stream. A few of our lakes even contained the landlocked salmon, a close relative of the Atlantic salmon.

Early dams, a necessary source of power, soon brought a decline in fish, and this decline did not pass unnoticed.

In the early l 860's, a Fish Commission was established by the Legislature to seek ways of improving the fishing, and fish wardens were appointed. Various methods were tried to pass fish over dams and falls in an effort to restore the runs.

It is probable that the first fishway consisted of a sluiceway in a dam across which planks were placed in various arrangements to slow the velocity of water. In some cases, rocks might be placed to form pools such as we still see at Damariscotta Mills. With little experience to go on, it is not surprising that many fishways were unsuccessful and that the Fish Commission met with more skepticism than support from the public.

S

the Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, successor to the Fish Commission, hired a full-time engineer to design fishways, fish hatcheries, dams, and other structures. A few years later, fishery biologists were hired. This put the design of fishways on a more scientific basis, which was soon reflected in more successful structures.

A common type of fishway built at this time was the pool and overfall type. This fishway had a series of pools OME THIRTY YEARS AGO,

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

varying in size from five to eight feet square, each pool about one foot lower than the preceding. A dam ten feet in height would have ten or eleven pools, each dropping the water one foot. The partition at the head or upper end of each pool was notched in the top at the center, each notch twelve to sixteen inches square. Depth of water in each pool was three or four feet. Water passing through this fishway resembled a series of small waterfalls, each easily negotiated by ascending fish. In addition to the notches, called weirs, each partition had a small hole near the bottom so the pools could be drained for repair or for idle periods.

The pool and overfall fishway worked quite well for game fish as Jong as the flow of water was properly regulated. However, it was very sensitive to changes in water levels and would not pass fish if levels changed more than a few inches, unless corresponding changes were made in the elevation of the notches. This was often impractical or neglected, and the passage of fish would be stopped.

Besides, alewives, although strong swimmers, do not leap from the water to jump over even a small waterfall. To overcome some of the handicaps of this fishway, the submerged orifice type was designed.

The submerged orifice fishway is constructed similar to the pool and overfall type, except in this case all of the flow of water is through openings near the bottom of each partition separating the pools. These openings, called orifices, varied in size from six inches by eight inches to twelve inches by eighteen inches, depending on pool size, availability of water, and the size and quantity of fish.

This fishway had the advantage that water levels within the pools would adjust automatically to compensate for changes in stream or lake level. Thus, with our ten foot dam and with ten pools provided and with all of the flow going through the submerged orifices, each pool level differed by one foot from those adjacent to it. If the water level above the dam should drop five feet, making the differential in water levels at the dam five feet, the water levels in our ten pool fishway would now drop to six inches from pool to pool. This fishway had two disadvantages. First, the orifices are easily clogged by debris, even with trash racks at the head end. Second, alewives, preferring to swim nearer the surface, seldom submerge to pass through a submerged orifice as will trout and salmon.

Occasionally, we have been asked why we do not just cut a hole in the base of a dam and let the fish swim through it. The reason is that the velocity of flow through such an opening is too great for the swimming ability of the fish, the velocity depending on the head of water at the dam. This is why, when designing a submerged orifice fishway, the pool level differential is limited to one foot, since this produces a velocity that is more nearly optimum for fish passage.

To provide easier passage for alewives, the pool type fishway was modified by installing chutes in each pool.

These chutes, extending upstream from each partition for

Chute type fishway on the Nequassett River at Woolwich.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

a distance equal to about one-half the pool length, sloped one foot in the downstream direction. With from four to six inches of water flowing down these chutes it was found that alewives, as well as game fish, had much less difficulty in negotiating a fishway. However, this fishway had the same disadvantage as the pool and overfall type, since it likewise was quite sensitive to changes in water level and required frequent adjustment.

A

we learned of a new type of fishway, first conceived by a man named Deni) in Belgium, which had proved quite successful on our Pacific coast in passing salmon . The Deni) fishway is completely different from the usual pool type. It has a comparatively narrow channel, usually from two to four feet in width and on a six to one slope, in which are set sloping baffles with openings between the uprights equal to seventwelfths of the channel width and spaced two-thirds of the channel width apart. Each baffle slopes upstream at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the floor.

We designed and built the first Deni! fishway in Maine in 1956 for a dam at the outlet of Embden Pond in Embden. The hydraulics of this fishway looked so good that in 1957 we designed two more and in 1958 five more.

Since that time, we have designed and built more fishways of this type than any other, and they have been very successful in passing the fish for which they were intended.

They pass more water than the older pool type, thus providing better water attraction for fish at the entrance, and they will function well with a two or three foot fluctuFEW YEARS AGO,

Denil fishway on the Sheepscot River at Coopers Mills.

ation in water levels. As with all fishways, care must be taken that the fishway is so installed that all portions, particularly at the entrance and exit, are at least two feet below stream and lake levels in order to provide sufficient water for the fish to swim in.

The largest Derril fishways we have designed and built - in fact, the largest, we believe, of this type in this country - are on the St. Croix River above Calais. The one completed in the early fall of 1964 at the Grand Falls powerhouse, costing about $110,000, has a four-foot channel, is 600 feet long, and has a vertical rise of 50 feet. A larger one nearly completed at Woodland is 745 feet long with a similar rise of 50 feet and is expected to cost about $167,000. Both fishways, designed to pass Atlantic salmon and alewives to enable them to reach excellent upstream spawning areas, receive funds under the federal Accelerated Public Works program which, in this case, amounts to two-thirds of the cost. The St. Croix Paper Company has agreed to contribute $75,000, and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Game will pay the balance.

T

fishways are making a great contribution to the propagation of desirable fish by enabling them to swim to and from their spawning areas, thus increasing their natural reproduction. Late in May, it is an interesting spectacle to see thousands of alewives darken the waters of these fishways as they seek to return to the waters where they were spawned three or four years earlier. Occasionally, one will catch a glimpse of an Atlantic salmon or the smaller brook trout. With the greater emphasis on curtailing pollution, our fishways should make a substantial contribution to the restoration of fish in waters where they were once plentiful.

Fishways, like all man-made structures, must be inspected and cared for; and, although department personnel visit them as often as possible, the co-operation of the public is needed. Fishways must not be tampered with by unauthorized persons, and except in winter months, the flow of water must not be shut off if the fishway is to pass fish. Damage to the fishway and cost to the state can result from throwing rocks or other materials into it, and such acts may kill or injure fish. The cost of design, and in many cases the cost of construction, is paid for by the sportmen's dollar, and already it is spread very thin.

32

H ESE AND OTHER

Huge new Denil fishway on the St. Croix River at Kellyland.

Maine Fish and Game -

Spring, 1965

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Game State House Augusta, Maine

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04330