Bay of Islands and Humber River Atlantic Salmon Investigations

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Author: Blair, A. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1965
• Subjects: General Medicine; Arctic; Atlantic salmon; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f65-051; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f65-051

Humber River is one of the important Atlantic salmon rivers of Newfoundland both from the standpoint of the angling in the river and the commercial fishery at the mouth of the river in Bay of Islands. The fishery was investigated in 1942 and a general survey was made of the main river and its tributaries in 1943 to determine conditions for spawning.The sea-age classes of Bay of Islands salmon and their percentage composition were: 1, 57.2; 2, 32.8; 3, 0.5; and previously spawned, 9.5. The 1 sea-year or grilse class was less numerous in June than 2 sea-year class, but was more numerous during the rest of the season. The 3 sea-year class was not represented at all until August, whereas the previously-spawned class had a higher representation in the first half of June than it did later in the season. According to fishermen's reports, the time of the run of the older salmon is usually from the last week of May to the first week of August with the peak around June 15, whereas grilse are caught from June 15 to the last week in August with the peak during the first half of July.The river-age classes of Bay of Islands salmon and their percentage representation were: 2, 2.1; 3, 42.1; 4, 51.6; 5, 4.0; and 6, 0.1.The average river age was 3.6 years.The average size of grilse was 52.8 cm and 3.4 lb (1.54 kg), and that of the sea-age class 2 was 75.3 cm and 10.6 lb (4.81 kg). Four per cent of the grilse and 28% of older salmon from Bay of Islands contained food; after July 22 no fish containing food was found. Capelin formed the predominant food item, and, almost always, the remainder was fish of other species.A survey of the main Humber River and its tributaries revealed a number of natural obstructions to the passage of salmon. A brief description of these is given, together with some suggestions for improvement. Access of anadromous salmon to Grand Lake and tributaries has been cut off by a dam. The lake now contains lake salmon, brook trout, and Arctic char.