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J NOT to_BE QUOTED WlTHP~T PERMISSION OF THE DI3_~CTO~, BIOLOGICAL _STATION, ~ANDRE\ ~~ ., __N· .!3_:-i ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT OF THE BIOLOGICAL STATION, ST. ANDREWS, N.B. Orig. Ms. 492

THE POWER PROJECT

A.G. Huntsman

In the early part of February of this year, we were asked to give evidence before the Royal Commission on Maritime Fisheries, sitting at St. John, concerning what effect the Passamaquoddy Power Project would have on the fisheries of the coast. We have learned that our evidence has been wrongly interpreted or misrepresented, so that we believe it .d e s i r a b l e to give brief accounts of these predicted effects of the construction involved in the prQject. It is not possible to detail all the evidence on which these predictions are based, but some of the more outstanding and simpler facts will be given. The effects are not confined to the fisheries, but have to do with

the temperature and salinity of th~ , navigation, the climate, and the .

This power project is the first of its kind, so that predictions

both as to its success and qS to its effects, cannot be based upon the results in previous cases of the same kind. These predictions, whatever their kind,

can be based ~t best only upon a consideration of the various factors involved, and the results of previous experience as to how these factors operate. It is, however, quite clear that if the dams and gates are successfully installed and operated, a constant head of water will be available for supplying

ste~dily hundreds of thousands of horse power. We believe it equally clear that the successful installation of the dams will produce widespread effects

of a striking nature not only inside the dams, but throu~out the generally.

It should be clearly underst60d that we are not sitting in judgment on this project. It is not our province to deal with its soundness from the engineering standpoint, nor are we prepared to state what value it might be to the province of in furnishing a basis for the employment of

o~ pe?~~e. As to the effects which we foresee from the construction numbers. . - . ,.:-;.;.: ~ . - . ~ of the dams, some will doubtless be considered favorable and others un­ favorable. It would seem wise to thoroughly consider both the benefits and

the damages that might result, and to make certain ~hat sufficient compensation is provided for all damages that are not offset by corresponding benefits. .,__ ..-:':" .~r- '" • • _ ._ .... . _ , • .

2.

THE PASSAMAQUODDY POWER PROJECT I. The Power

This is the age of power, of seeking control of the forces of nature for man's use and benefit, There have already been such extraordinary accomplishments that new undertakings, no matter on how large a scale, now fail to be impressive. We look generally to the sun as a source of power. It gives us light, It gives us heat. It makes the plants grow to serve as food for man and animals, and is thus responsible for both man and animal power. Also the power we get from wood, from coal, and from oil has come from the growth of plants or animals, and so indirectly from the sun.

why should not the of itself furnish power? It is not radiating much energy, but it is revolving on its axis so rapidly that any object at the is travelling eastward at the rate of over a thousand miles an hour. Why cannot that force be utilized? The reason is

that there must be something for this movement to work ~gainst for us to get the power. If the atmosphere stood still while the earth revolved, we would have a tremendous and steady -gale blowing westward, and then windmills would give us abundant and continuous power for all our needs. But the atmosphere goes with the earth and its movements are too fluctuating and uncertain to be a reliable source of power.

The rotation of the earth does, however, work against something. The earth rotates in reference to the other heavenly bodies, and their attraction on the earth is what its rotation works against. This attraction, although affecting the atmosphere and the lithosphere or solid earth as well, is shown chiefly by the or hydrosphere. Water is fluid enough and heavy enough to show very regular movements as the result of the earth's rotation moving it against the attraction of the various heavenly bodies. These movements of the water over the earth are known as the tides. The heavenly bodies, whose attraction is greatest through their nearness or size are the moon and the sun, and the tides are seen to vary chiefly in reference », to the relative positions of these two bodies. But still the tidal movement, although never failing day after day, is not steady, but fluctuating. It flows one way for a time, gradually ceases, and then begins to flow in the opposite direction. Man has found it a most difficult problem to make use of this periodical movement as a source of constant power. 3.

The Passamaquoddy Power Project is to make use of the power in the tides, and the magnitude of the enterprise intrigues the imagination. When one considers that the whole of Passamaquoddy , including the of the St. Croix river, and covering about one hundred square miles, rises and falls from twenty to twenty five feet every twelve house, and that four times every day about two billion tons of water boils through the narrow passages at the mouth of the Bay, one gets some conception of the extent of the power that is seemingly going to waste. Can it be chained ,t o turn wheels and to produce electricity, which can be transmitted far and wide over the neighbouring part of the ? The scheme is a simple one. Dam the Bay so that it will always be full or nearly so, letting in at high whatever water may be necessary. Then dam the mouth of the adjacent , so that water can't get into it and keep its water always at a low level by draining it thoroughly at low tide. With Passamaquoddy always nearly full and Cobscook always quite low, we can have a continuous waterfall from one , to the other and this will be the source of the power just as in ordinary hydro-electric power plants. Tremendous as the output of power will be, only a very small part of the power that now forces the water in and out of those two bays will be used. Most of the power will be excluded from those bays by the dams and will be expended in the Bay of Fundy. Enormous as is this power project with

its hundreds of thousands of proposed horsepower, the series of d~s that will make it possible will interfere with an immensely greater natural process, which is altogether unique for the Atlantic coast of this continent, and possibly for the world. It need not be considered surprising, therefore, that the installation of these dams should have pronounced and wide-spread effects throughout the Bay of Fundy and the neighboring . We propose in subsequent articles to give brief accounts of some of these effects. Details of the very many facts that have been determined by investigation, or brought together from a variety of sources in our efforts to accurately trace out these effects, would fill a very large volume.

~here is more power in the than that shown in the tides. An attempt is being made near Halifax by a Mr. Parsons to use the waves of the ocean as a source of power, the up and down motion operating a crank, which turns a fly wheel and generates electricity. This power comes from the action of the wind, and therefore partly from the sun and partly from the earth's rotation. A Frenchman, Prof. Georges Claude, has recently devised a means I L 4. of running a modified steam engine with sea power, taking advantage of the difference in temperature between the deep cold water and the warm surface water that exists throughout the year in the tropics. This power comes from the sun, which warms the surface water. Unfortunately our could be so used only in summer. Neither of these two latter projects involves much change in natural conditions, and in this respect as well as in others they are to be contrasted with the Passamaquoddy Power Project. 5,

/ THE ~ASSAMAQUODDY~OWER ~ROJECT

II. The Water Effect

The Passamaquoddy region is in a number of respects peculiar or unique. Its pecuiar characters are due to a combination of factors, and this combination has produced a water-mixing machine of gigantic proportions. Whoever has seen and experienced in the deep channels between Deer, Moose and Campobello islands at the mouth of the whirlpools in which water is sucked into the depths and the tremendous, updrafts, in which water boils up .from the depths and floods over the surface, has no illusions con­ cerning the power and effectiveness of this machine. What effect has this machine on the water?

To understand what this mixing does to the water, we must first consider a place where there is little or no mixing going on. Across the New Brunswick- peninsula from the Bay of Fundy is the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the southern part of which are Prince Edward and the Magdalen islands. Its waters are very little mixed, and present a marked contrast with those of the Bay of Fundy. During the summer they are warm and of comparatively low salinity near the surface, since the heat of the sun's rays steadily warms them, and the deep water is not brought up to cool them. On the other hand, during the winter they lose their heat, become very cold and freeze to such an extent that they may be largely covered with ice, since the deeper, salter water is not brought up to keep them from freezing. The other part of the picture, not known to the people generally, not even to the fishermen, is that the deep water from about twenty to twenty five fathoms down is ice-cold throughout the year, and in fact cold enough to freeze fresh water. Even though there be down below an enormous amount of water only 32 or even only 30 degrees in temperature throughout the summer, this of itself is not sufficient to prevent the superficial and inshore waters from warming up to comfortable temperatures of about 70 degrees. So long as the deep, cold water is not brought to the surface, the upper layers become quite warm under the influence of the summer sun.

In the Bay of Fundy farther to the south and with a~,hotter summer sun no such high temperatures are experienced and indeed very little of the water ever goes above 50 degrees in temperature. What is the explanation? 6.

\ In the Bay of Fundy the mixing that goes on without a day's cessation and principally at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay prevents such a state of affairs. The surface water generally in the Bay and particularly in the Passamaquoddy region is in summer much colder than that in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, even though the latter is so much farther north and has so much cold water entering it from the Labrador current. Also the waters of Fundy are in winter freer of ice than are those of the Gulf of st. Lawrence or even those along the outer coast of Nova Scotia, which is exposed to the warming influence of the open ocean. The reason for this is that during the summer the deep, cold water is brought up and mixed so thoroughly with the warming surface water that the resultant water is almost too cold for bathing even far inland up the St. Croix river, and water as salt as that of the open seacoast is found equally far inland. During the winter the deep water, now relatively warm, because it has warmed slowly all summer, is brought up and mixed so thoroughly with the cooling surface water that freezing is prevented far inland up the St. Croix river, and only rarely does even such a protected as Passamaquoddy Bay freeze over. The harbours are practically all open.

It is not alone the amount of water entering and leaving Passamaquoddy Bay that is responsible for the extensive updraft of cold water from the depths at the mouth of that bay. Far more water enters and leaves the Bay of Fundy without such a result. It is due to an unusual combination of conditions. In the first place there are the comparatively high tides of fro~ twenty to twenty five feet. In the second place Passamaquoddy is an extensive inland bay covering approximately one hundred square miles, and comparatively deep and broad, so that the water, when once inside, can readily reach all parts. In the third place, the entrances to the bay are narrow, producing very rapid currents, but still with sufficient room to permit of the bay filling and emptying with the tides to nearly the maximum extent. In the fourth place the entering channels are tortuous, with irregular sides and bottom, and deep, so that the currents are most irregular and varying, giving a very thorough boiling or churning effect, which mixes together the water of all depths from the surface to a depth of two hundred feet or more. In the fifth place the Bay of Fundy is three hundred feet or morQ.deep all the way from its mouth to the entrance to Passamaquoddy bay, which provides a ready and

\ 7. continuous supply of deep, cold water for the mixing process in the entrance channels. Just off Head Harbour where is the entrance of the main channel leading to Passamaquoddy Bay, the water is over three hundred feet deep and the deeper layers even in July and August are still no more than from 40 to 45 degrees in temperature.

High tides are not of themselves sufficient to make the surface water cold, for at the head of the Bay of Fundy the tides are almost twice as high as those at the mouth, and yet the water is much warmer. A broken coast with many shoals, islands and inlets is not sufficient to make the surface water cold, for the coast of is possibly more broken than that of Charlotte county, and yet, as Dr.' Bigelow has shown, the temperature of the surface water in summer rises rather rapidly going along the Maine coast from the Bay of Fundy, and that in spite of the fact that the cold water from the mouth of the Bay of Fundy is moving in ~hat direction. It might be claimed that the mixing mechanism at the mouth of Passamaquoddy bay is only one among a number of places in the region where mixing takes place, and, therefore, relatively unimportant. The fact remains that not only the temperature of the surface water, but also the temperature of the air during the summer months drops from all directions going to the mouth of Passamaquoddy Bay, showing that much more cold water is brought to the surface there than at any other point. The mixings that take place over the ledges and shoals south of as in the Bulkhead rip, or through Petite and Grande passages in , are very feeble in comparison with the whirlpools and boilings in the Quoddy river off Deer Island point. We have been through them all repeatedly and can speak from experience.

Where goes the cold, surface water, that is so produced at the mouth of Passamaquoddy Bay? Dr. Mavor has shown that the water of the Bay of Fundy off passes out chiefly along the east side of Grand Manan, following the margin of the deep'water. Such as rounds Grand Manan or passes through the western channel to the coast of Maine works down that coast, as Dr. Bigelow has proved. However, the shoals south of Grand Manan serve to divert some of the water from its east side to the ~ Nova Scotian coast to the vicinity of and St. Mary Bay. The 8. proof that the cold water from the mouth of Passamaquoddy Bay goes in these directions is shown by Dr. Bigelow's findings that in August the coldest surface water extends out around Grand Manan island, doWn the Maine coast, and across to the coast of Nova Scotia to the vicinity of Brier island, with warmer water farther up the Bay of Fundy, and in the from the Yarmouth shore all across to southern Maine and the coast of Massachusetts.

Another effect of the mixing is the bringing of very salt water to the surface. This gives more pronounced sea conditions along the shores of Charlotte county than on the open outer coast of Nova Scotia. A marked contrast is presented in this respect to the conditions around Prince Edward island in the Gulf of st. Lawrence. Oceanic or deep water .cond i t i ons are to be found in Passamaquoddy Bay and inland far up the st. Croix river.

What will be the resultif the mixing-machine -is stopped? It is quite clear that the conditions will change toward those of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In the summer the surface water will be less salt and will warm up so that bathing will be generally pleasant. In the winter the surface water will cool to such an extent that ice will form early and continue late. Passamaquoddy Bay, st. Croix river, and Cobscook Bay will freeze up like the St. John river, so that roads may be made across them and used month after month.

Let it not be thought that this effect will be confined to the bodies of water inside the dams. The effect will be most pronounced there, but the whole coast, in fact the whole Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine to a considerable extent will be altered in the character of their waters. Outside the dams the most pronounced change will be in the immediate vicinity. Beyond this the effect will diminish toward the northeast along the New Brunswick coast, but only very gradually toward the southwest to Grand Manan and along the coast of Maine. The reason for this is that the water of the B ay of Fundy circulates in the opposite direction to the hands of the clock. The waterenters from the Gulf of Maine along the coast of Nova Scotia, and it passes out along the New Brunswick coast, past Grand

Manan and along the Maine coast. The outgoing waterL no longer controlled in temperature by the mixing machine, will, like that leaving the Gulf of St. Lawrence past Cape Breton, be warm in summer and ice-laden in winter. 9.

The region generally will have warmer surface water in summer, and more ice in winter, so that at least the less favorably situated inlets will be covered. The deep water will be colder all the year round, but particularly in summer.

The forces that tend to spread the local effect over the Bay of Fundy are chiefly two. There is a certain amount of return of the outgoing water into the Bay toward the Nova Scotia side. This will carry the warm surface water in summer, and the cold, ice-laden water in winter toward the opposite coast of the Bay. Also there is the action of the prevailing southwest ' wi nds . At the present time they drive the somewhat warmed surface water toward the upper end of the Bay on the Nova Scotian side, and with it goes a large amount of drift material. As a result the water in Minas channel and in its neighborhood is from surface to bottom warmer than elsewhere in the Bay. Also the dirft material collects in an immense field about the centre of Minas channel, and to this field the local name of "Cedar swamp" is given. with the dams in place at the entrances to Passama­ quoddy, and with the surface water of that region changed in character, the winds will drive warmer water to the Minas region in summer and colder or ice-laden water in winter, altering the conditions there rather markedly. 10.','

THE PASSAMAQUODDY POWER PROJECT

III. The Climatic Effect

What makes the seashore so attractive? There are undoubtedly many reasons, but probably the m?st potent one is the escape it provides from the heat of the inland summer. To the oppressive, the exhausting, even the fatal heat of the interior the cool, refreshing sea breezes of the coast offer a most welcome contrast. Who would choose the heat, the glare, the dryness that distance from sea influence involves? The effect of water on the climate is most marked.

One might wonder whether the heavy tides, the strong currents, and the "boiling" waters of the Passamaquoddy region have any effect on the climate. The enormous mixing machine that works through the channels of West Isles makes during the summer cold surface water, which is spread far and wide. Will that affect the air? In the Passamaquoddy region during summer a wind from the north may at first be warm, but is soon cool, and , almost invariably dry. A wind from the west, or, more particularly, the southwest, may be moist or dry, but it is almost invariably quite warm, or even hot. A wind from the south or southeast may at first be cool, but is soon somewhat warm and almost invariably quite moist and accompanied by fog, and in this the water of the sea shows its effects. The warm, moisture­ laden air of the ocean to the south when it comes over the cold waters of the coast is cooled and fog forms. The fog, which may be very dense, is always, if anywhere, over the cold water, and may be nowhere else. It is not unusual to be able to climb up the mast of a vessel and get out of the fog, or, on a hillside sloping to the water to go from warm sunshine at the top down to cool, dense fog at the water's edge. There can be no doubt that the cold water makes the aircool and foggy, and that the cool atmosphere and foggy conditions of the passamaquoddy region and neighboring parts of

the coast are due to the cold water brought u~ by the tidal currents in their churning action through the archipelago at the mouth of the bay.

The meteorological records show the marked local effect of the cold water. We are indebted to the Canadian Meteorological Office for the 4-, Canadian records and to the publications of the Weather Bureau at Washington 11. for those of points in the New England States. St. Andrews, though com­ paratively far inland, does not get even as extreme heat as Halifax on the open coast. The mean temperatures for the summer months of June, July, and August, are lower for St. Andrews, Lepreau and Saint John than for Boston, Fredericton, Halifax, Charlottetown or Montreal.

We might ask, where is the cooling influence? Everyone would agree that it is the cool waters of. the sea. But where is the chief cooling influence? Other things being equal, the farther out into the sea you go the cooler it should be in summer, and the farther inland the warmer. For example, for July the average mean .temperature for Fredericton is 66.1 degrees, for St. Stephen, 65.7, for St. Andrews, 62.0, and for Eastport, 60.4, that is, the nearer the open waters, the cooler it is. For August, the temperatures are,- 63.~, 63.2, 61.4, and 60.6. But, although Nova Scotia is farther out in the sea, Yarmouth, Digby, Annapolis, Liverpool and Halifax are all warmer in August than either Eastport or St. Andrews. St. John should be included in this as intermediate between Eastport and st. Andrews . Why have Charlotte and St. John counties lower summer temperatures than Massachusetts, western Maine, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and northern New Brunswick?

The average mean temperature for August falls from Yarmouth (63.1), to Digby (62.7), to Grand Manan (61.5), and to Eastport (60.6), then rises to st. Andrews (61.4), St. Stephen (63.2), and Fredericton (63.8). Also it falls from Portland (67.8), to Bar Harbour (63.8), to Eastport (60.6), and to Lepreau (57 .5), then rises to St. John (61.3), and to (62.5). During June, July, and August, the average mean temperature falls going from any direction to Eastport and Lepreau, with Lepreau distinctly cooler than Eastport. The fall is most rapid from the southwest, next from the northwest, that is the interior. The explanation is that inland it is warmer, and to the south it is warmer, and the pre­ vailing winds are from the southwest. Let us take the change in temperature of the warm winds coming from the southwest as shown by the average mean ~.. temperatures for July. The rate of fall in temperature for each ten miles 12. proceeding from the southwest is, Boston to portland, 0.2 degrees, Portland to Bar Harbour, 0.3, Bar Harbour to Eastport, 0 .8, and Eastport to Lepreau, 1.3, and. the rate of rise is from Lepreau to St. John, 2.2, and from St. John to Moncton, 0.5. What is there between Eastport and Lepreau to give us a rapid fall in temperature, from which there is an even more rapid recovery going on to St. John? There can be no question that it is the cold water brought to the surface by the boiling and churning in the entrances to Passamaquoddy Bay.

What will be the result of a more or less complete stoppage of this process? It should be quite evident that there will be warmer conditions throughout the whole region. The most marked change will be on the Lepreau side of the mouth of Passamaquoddy Bay, diminishing most rapidly to the southwest and least rapidly to the northeast. Eastport, St. Andrews, and St.John will be like St. Stephen; St. Stephen like Fredericton; and Fredericton will be somewhat warmer.

The winter conditions are the reverse. The water brought to the surface between Eastport and Letang is comparatively warm and it ameliorates the severity of the winter in all directions, but principally to the northeast. With the dams in place, the winters will be colder.

The cool water at the surface during summer is responsible for the fog that is produced locally, which is often quite pronounced. Much of the fog comes in from the Gulf of Maine, but there is a considerable amount produced locally, as is readily apparent by its being low and rather definitely related to the water and not to the land. We have no figures to indicate the extent of this, but the installation of the dams will have a pronounced effect in reducing the amount of local fog during the summer months, particularly at the mouth of Passamaquoddy Bay and out to Grand Manan and down the Maine coast. 13.

IV. The Tidal Effect.

The continuous attraction of the other heavenly bodies, in particular that of the sun and the moon, on the waters of the earth, while the latter turns on its axis, causes waves to be set up in the ocean, about two every day. These cause the two high and the two low tides of each day in the Bay of Fundy. These in their turn produce the strong currents through the narrow entrances to, Passamaquoddy bay. A great deal of energy comes, therefore, from the Bay of Fundy to be expended in foricng an enormous amount of water into and out of Passama­ quoddy bay. Approximately two billion tons of water flow into or out of that bay every six hours through the rocky, irregular passages known as Big Letite, Little Letite, and the Quoddy River, and this either raises or lowers the level of the bay and its connected inlets, comprising one

hundred square miles in area, from twenty to twenty-f~ve feet. The installation of the Cooper dams across these passages will almost wholly stop this movement. At the most only a quarter as much water will run in and out as does now, and, as no minimum amount is assured, it may conceivably be reduced to entirely negligible proportions. Whatever may be the amount, it is certain to be very small, compared with the present.

We may ask what will be the effect of shutting out this large amount of energy from Passamaquoddy bay. Inside that bay that energy now moves objects from place to place, scours out channels and finally becomes converted into heat.

We have been given to understand that inside Passamaquoddy bay after the dams are built the maximum rise and fall will be five feet. This will depend upon how much power is used (and this Mr. Cooper states, will be small at first), and upon how much fresh water runs into the bay, which will vary with the season. There will be a rapidly rising "flood tide" in the bay and a very slowly falling "E!bb tide". Low and high water in Passamaquoddy bay will be closely related to high water in the Bay of Fundy, low water being something less than two hours before and high water about half an hour after high water in the Bay of Fundy. If s. the flow of water through the power house continues steadily at a constant 14. rate and without interruption, prediction of high and low water will be comparatively easy. The inlet gates and the power house gates, will, however, control the rise and fall.

What will be the .effect in the Bay of Fundy of stopping so much energy from entering and leaving Passamaquoddy bay? This is a very difficult problem. A year ago we approached the t idal authorities in both ottawa and Washington and they said they could not foretell without special investigation and experiment, which should, they stated, be done with models.. This investigation was then made during the summer of 1927 at the Atla~tic Biological Station, St. Andrews, by Prof. H.B. Hachey of the University of New Brunswick, who has submitted a report on the subject.

In the Bay of Fundy the tide rises and falls from about nine feet at the very ill defined mouth to about fifty feet near the head, as in . These very high tides are partly the .direct result of successive tidal waves coming in from the , but chiefly the result of the water swinging out and in at just the right rate for each successive tide from the Atlantic to keep it going well. Everyone knows that, if you start water swinging from one side to the other in a wash basin, it will continue for some time and will only gradually subside. If now we take a child's swing with the child sitting in it, and give it a little push, it will start going to and fro. If other little pushes are given, each one at just the right time, the swing will go, higher and higher. So it is with the tide in the Bay of Fundy. Each little tide or push from the Atlantic comes at the right time to keep the high swing of water in the Bay of Fundy going.

If the water in Passamaquoddy bay were also swinging from one end to the other it might either help or hinder the swinging in the Bay of Fundy, depending on how it was timed. Prof. Hachey found, however, no swinging in the Passamaquoddy bay. This was ' to have been expected as the entrances are too numerous, narrow and irregular to permit any wave to enter and start the swinging. If it were set up from inside, it could not pass out to affect the Bay of Fundy. The islands and shoals at the . ~ mouth of Passamaquoddy bay form an effective breakwater to prevent waves from both entering and leaving. 15.

The result then is that the surging of the water through the entrances to Passamaquoddy bay merely acts as a drag on the swinging of the Bay of Fundy water. If that drag is removed, what then? Prof . Hachey calculates that it amounts to 1.7% of the energy in the Bay of Fundy, and that, therefore, the dams would correspondingly increase the in the Bay of Fundy, making high water of spring tides about two and a half inches higher at Campobello, and about five inches higher at the head of the Bay~

Prof. Hachey's figures cannot be considered final, as he himself states. Part of the calculation is s imple enough, namely the rise and fall of water in Passamaquoddy bay and the effect of adding this oscillating energy to the swing in the Bay of Fundy. The drag due to the forcing of the water through the entrances to Passamaquoddy bay is quite a different matter. A calculation of the energ~ expended is very difficult. On the other hand this energy is not to be offset against the big oscillating energy in the Bay of Fundy, but against the smaller push coming in from the Atlantic. Whether or not this would make the increase of tide in the Bay of Fundy greater than as given in Prof. Hachey's figures, it is difficult to say.

In any event there is bound to be a very definite increase in the height of high tide in the Bay of Fundy if Passamaquoddy bay is dammed off. How detrimental such a rise in level would be on wharves, dikes, and other shore property, around the Bay of Fundy can best be determined by the people in the various localities. 16.

THE PASSAMAQUODDY POWER PROJECT V. The Effect on Navigation.

Perhaps the effect of the proposed dams at the mouth of Passamaquoddy bay on navigation in that region is the effect that can most readily be appreciated and yet some of the most outstanding things seem not to be clearly understood. With the dams in position the water in the bay will be generally speaking high, while the water just outside will be going down and up in the usual fashion. With locks installed in the da~s boats can be raised or lowered from one level to the other without any particular trouble, involving only the attendance at the locks of lock-keepers, the expense incident to keeping them in repair, and the delay to the boats. This delay will amount to perhaps one-half hour, it is said. It will vary with the state of the tide, requiring the longest time at low tide. Near high tide, locking will be shorter, involving little more than opening and closing first one set of gates and then the other set, together with stopping and starting the vessel twice. About two hours before and about half an hour after high water outside, the levels outside and inside the dams will be the same for very brief periods, when vessels could sail right through if all the gates were open.

With the dams installed there will be a general absence of strong currents, as compared with present conditions. This will make sailing more uniform, shortening the time in one direction, but lengthening it in the reverse. Currents will not be abolished. When the inlet gates are open before and after high water, there will be currents inward through all three passages, but chiefly through Big Letite, where the bulk of the water is to enter. When the outlet gates are open, which will be principally before low tide there will be outward currents from Cobscook bay past Eastport and 'through Head Harbour passage, and also to some extent through Quoddy river and the neighbouring channels. Inside the dams there will be a constant small current from the bay to the power house gates in the Quoddy river, and, when the inlet gates are open, 4 inflowing currents from the three passages, but principally from Big Letite. 17.

The generally high level of the water inside Passamaquoddy bay, that will be the result of the dams, coupled with the small rise and fall of the water, will make navigation during the summer comparatively easy there, as many bars and shoals will always be covered with a sufficient depth of water for small boats at least. Landing floats will be largely unnecessary and wharves will need to be neither so long. nor so high. Permanent wharves will be more expensive to build, as wooden ones will require to be protected, for example by creosoting, from attack by the shipworm. The lowered salinity and the higher temperature should make very suitable conditions for the ship worm, such as are found in the Bras d'Or Lakes. Boats in the bay will similarly be prone to attack by the shipworm unless properly protected. outside along the .s hor e of the Bay of Fundy there will be a change in the same direction, but it may not be sufficient to make conditions altogether suitable for the ship­ worm.

During the summer fogs will be much less prevalent owing to the higher temperature of the surface water. This effect will be most definite inside Passamaquoddy bay in the case of very local fogs. There will, however, be a pronounced effect over the Bay of Fundy generally and down the coast of Maine. This will, of course, be of help for navigation.

One of the most striking effects of the dams in connection with navigation will be seen during the winter in the more extensive formation of ice. It is very difficult to understand how the engineers in connection with the project can have so little knowledge of the conditions that determine ice formation as to expect no trouble from this source. It is one of the commonest experiences to observe that running water in a brook prevents ice formation. Where the current is strongest the ice is thinnest or entirely lacking. Heat generated by friction in and from the running water will in part account for this. Another thing is the bringing up of the deeper water, which in winter, is usually warmer than that at the surface. The dams will very greatly decrease the amount of water movement in the district. with diminished movement,~.there will be less friction, and less heat produced to keep the water from freezing. But of 18. vastly greater importance at the present time in keeping ice from forming in the region is the bringing in of warm water, not merely from below, but from outside. It is perhaps generally appreciated that in winter the ocean water is warmer than the shore water. But who know~~ that warmer water is brought in, and, if they do know, have they any conception of how it is brought in? In winter the water in Passamaquoddy bay is several degrees colder than that in the Bay of Fundy and the water is progressively warmer going to the open ocean. It is easy to appreciate that the two billion tons of water corning in and going out of Passamaquoddy bay twice daily will r~gularly remove a lot of cold water from that bay and replace it with warmer water from the Bay of Fundy, and that the s~oppage of this process will inevitably result in a vastly greater amount of ice being formed inside. But the effect goes farther than this. Warm water is being brought from the Gulf of Maine into the Bay of Fundy and there are two very potent factors in bringing that in. One is the inflow of fresh water into the Bay chiefly from the St. John river, and the other is the mixing of this with the salt water. The more fresh water there is and the more thoroughly it is mixed with the salt water, the greater is the volume of relatively light water that is produced to flow out over the heavier water of the Gulf of Maine like oil over water. When it flows out, it must be replaced by deep water from the Gulf flowing in, and this in the winter time brings in warm water. The phenomenal mixing of deep water with surface water that takes place now at the mouth of Passamaquoddy bay is a most potent factor in bringing in a large steady supply of the deeper water from the Gulf of Maine and in having this bring up the temperature of that surface water of winter, that is to circulate around Grand Manan island, across to the neighboring part of Nova Scotia and also down the Maine coast. Undoubtedly with the darns the surface waters in winter will be colder, and ice will become very much more prevalent along the shores and in the harbours of the entire Bay of Fundy and down the Maine coast. This will cause very serious interruption to navigation, and in Passamaquoddy bay navigation will be quite impossible for months every winter. This we consider the most serious effect upon navigation. ~ . 19.

The Passamaquoddy Power project

VI. The Effect on the Fisheries

Of all the effects of the proposed Passamaquoddy dams that on the fisheries is the one that will most deeply strike at the economic life of the people along the coast. The coastal fisheries of Charlotte County, where the dams are to be located, amounted in value in the year 1926, the most recent year for which statistics are available, to the sum of three-quarters of a million dollars as caught and landed by the fishermen: with more efficient operation the amount might be very considerably increased and at least doubled. The ultimate value' of these fisheries as a national resource as a food for the people is immensely greater, but is not readily calculable.

Very few people realize the peculiarly local character of many of the fisheries, or, if they have some conception of these peculiarities, they have but the vaguest notion of the conditions with which they are associated. If an exceptionally large number of fish is caught in a certain district, they will attribute this to the outstanding ability of the local fishermen or to the fish having taken a preference for that locality and being liable to forsake it capriciously at any moment. There are, however, deep seated causes for the great differences in the fisheries that are to be found within comparatively short distances, and these are quite similar to the factors that determine the crops on the lands. Crops depend upon fertility of soil and upon climate, the former of which is very local, being connected with material, the soil, which is stationary, and the latter of which is relatively constant over" wide areas, being connected with a very freely movable material, the air. In the sea the corresponding factors, fertility and climate, are both associated with the water, which is neither so stationary as the soil nor so freely movable as the air. consequently the differences in the fisheries are as a whole not so localized as the differences in crops due to fertility of soil, and yet are much more localized than the climatic differences on land. s.

The outstanding peculiarity of the fisheries of the Passamaquoddy region, in which we include the waters in all directions from the mouth of that vay, consists in the extent of the pollock and herring fisheries. 20.

Passamaquoddy itself is said to be Indian for "plenty of pollock", and it is common knowledge that the canning of young herring as sardines is practically confined to this region. In 1926, which is the most recent year for which statistics are available, the pollock taken in Charlotte County amounted to more than twice the quantity (38,271 cwts, as compared with 17,510 cwts.) taken in St. John, Annapolis, and Digby counties, the three nearest counties in the lower part of the Bay of Fundy, and yet these three counties have more than five times the frontage on the Bay that Charlotte county has. For the same year the catch of herring (including sardines) was over two and a half times as great in Charlotte (383,282 cwis. as against 142,257 cwts.) as in the other three counties combined. There must be some oustanding difference in conditions to explain such an enormously greater productivity. Are the waters of Charlotte county exceptionally fertile and do they provide a more suitable climate for the pollock and herring than are "t o be found else~ where? It will be necessary to consider both fertility and climate.

In the sea as on theland fertility consists in the presence of certain inorganic salts, that are required for the growth of plants. The plants in the sea consist not only of the seaweeds that grow along shore and on the bottom in shallow water, but also of minute, microscopic organisms, that are present in enormous numbers at certain seasons of the year in the upper layers of the water, and that are of the greatest importance as food for the youngest fish fry and for the smaller animals, such as "shrimp" and "red feed", that in their turn form the chief food of so many fishes. These plants grow only in the upper layers of the water, as they require light, and as the sun's rays are unable to penetrate very far into the water. They are able to grow only during the half of the year rou~hly from April to September when the sun is highest in the heavens and remains up for the longest time each day. hey require ". not only light, but also various inorganic salts, of which some are in such small quantities in the sea~water as to be exhausted rather quickly. When anyone of these necessary salts becomes exhausted, the plants can no longer grow and the water becomes barren. S.. 21.

Directly or indirectly the fishes have to depend upon the plants in the sea for their food. The important fisheries of the ocean are situated in those regions, where there is a good supply of rich water for the growth of plants. In the Atlantic ocean tropical and waters are comparatively barren, while in temperate and boreal latitudes, extensive fisheries are located. Both tropic and arctic waters are comparatively stagnant, but in between we have tropic water going north and arctic water going south, with .vertical movements and mixing, proceeding in some localities on a tremendous scale. The tropic and arctic waters, although c?mparatively barre n for plant growth as they arrive in temperate latitudes, contain quantities of otherwise useless animals that die when there is much change in temperature, then decompose and refertilize the waters for plant growth. The chief mixing region is off the tip of the Grand Bank, where "Gulf Stream" and Labrador current commingle very freely, causing wholesale destruction among their inhabitants. The greater part of this mixed and refertilized water, together with unmixed tropic water, drifts across to the coast of northern , where the progressive cooling that takes place causes the surface water, made barren by plant growth, to become heavier, sink, and be replaced steadily by richer water from below. The exceptional nature of the fisheries of the and adjacent waters is well known and is to be considered the result of this process. On the other hand much of the water resulting from the commingling of Labrador current and "Gulf Stream" works over and along the banks off the Newfoundland, Canadian and New England coasts and produces perhaps even greater richness of fisheries there.

The coastal waters in temperate latitudes go through considerable changes in temperature throughout the course of the year. When the surface water warms in spring and summer, it becomes lighter and can be replaced by water from beneath only with considerable difficulty. When it cools in autumn and winter, it becomes heavier, sinks down, and is automatically replaced by water from beneath. By spring the surface water has been thoroughly renewed from the depths, and when the sun is sufficiently high, it shows an extremely rich growth of plant life. When some of the ~ . necessary salts are exhausted, plant growth ceases and a barren state comes on to disappear only when the autumn cooling brings up unexhausted water from below, and then only if there is still sufficient light. 22.

If, however, by some means the deep water is continually brought to the surface during the summer, there will be a steady growth of plant life and food for fishes will be much more abundant. As the result of a prolonged study of spawning ponds at Port Erin in the Isle of Man, Scott states that the utility of an artificial pond for the rearing of fish and lobsters must depend largely on the ability to maintain an abundant supply of plankton or floating organisms, and that the plankton is dependent on the frequent renewals of water pumped from the sea. Currents flowing over shoals and through irregular passages bring up water from below, and thus renew the water for plankton production. Throughout the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy, and in fact the whole of the Atlantic coastal waters there is no mechanism at all comparable with that at the mouth of Passamaquoddy Bay in the extent to which deep water is brought to the surface. This is well shown by the low surface temperatures of the water and the low average temperature of the air in late summer, which we have already described. It is true that in the estuary of the St. Lawrence between Red Island and Bic a quite different mechanism brings considerably colder water to the surface, but this is because the deeper water in that region is very much colder than any in the Bay of Fundy. That region interestingly enough is the only other one on the coast in which young herring are taken in sufficient quan­ tities to be listed as sardines in the statistics. We have, therefore, in the waters of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, and Washington County, Maine, a mechanism for furnishing the reglon with a steady supply at the surface of water brought up from below, and hence rich in the salts needed for the growth of plants to furnish an abundance of food for the fishes. As we have shown, this rich water circulates to Grand Manan and Digby County, Nova Scotia, as well as down the coast of Maine. Is the production of food the chief. or only effect of the Passamaquoddy water mixing mechanism so far as the fishes are concerned, or does it provide them with a more suitable climate? In the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the north shore of New Brunswick, as at the mouth of the

Miramichi river, Northumberland County, the herrin~.are absent in the winter, but come to the coast in the spring, when the temperature is right, and can then be taken readily for a short period. The shore water 23. subsequently becomes too warm for them and they leave. They might still be taken at proper depths off shore, if the schools could be located, for the summer or fall spawning schools are frequently found and fished a number of miles off the coast, where they find suitable water at the bottom and congregate to qeposit their spawn. While those Gulf waters are so uniformly icy cold in winter, that practically all of the fish leave, they are most varied at different depths during the summer. At 0 the surface, there is warm water (up to 70 ) suitable for the mackerel and dogfish, which appear in immense numbers. At the bottom in deep­ 0 water icy cold conditions (down to 30 ) prevail, suitable for 'the arctic fishes tnat are to be found there, but ehat are without commercial value. At intermediate depths where alone they can find water of suitable temperature, though of limited extent, live the more important commercial fishes, such as the herring, cod, haddock, and hake. On the outer coast of Nova Scotia, as at Halifax, similar conditions prevail, although not to such an extreme degree, for both winter and summer conditions are tempered by proximity to the open ocean. The winter temperatures are not quite so low, the summer surface temperatures are not so high, and the deep icy-cold water does not last throughout the summer. Corres­ pondingly the sea fisheries can be conducted throughout a larger part of the year and are of greater extent.

The waters of Charlotte county in the Bay of Fundy present a marked contrast with those that we have described. Though as far in from the open ocean as waters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence similar to those we have described, they show much less extreme conditions than those at Halifax on the open coast. The surface waters in summer are so cool that one has to go as far as the east coast of Newfoundland and the Strait of Belle Isle, exposed to the influence of the Labrador Current, to find anything comparable. Consequently the warmth-loving fishes, such as the mackerel andthe dogfish are conspicuous to o?e who knows other parts of the coast by their rarity. Some summers we have had difficulty in getting specimens of either of these fishes in Passamaquoddy Bay. Equally remarkable is the fact that none of the water even in winter gets as cold as is some of the water just off Halifax, or ih inside Halifax, in the summer. As a result many arctic forms that are found at Halifax are unknown in the waters of Charlotte county. These waters tend

------24. to remain suitable in temperature for the more important commercial sea fishes almost throughout the year. Passamaquoddy Bay becomes too cold for these fishes in late winter andspring and too warm for the cod in late summer, but the outer waters though forsaken by the haddock and hake during the colder part of the year, furnish during some years at least cod and herring fishing not only throughout the summer, but throughout the winter as well, as at Bliss Island and Grand Manan. If economic conditions made it desirable doubtless a steady fishery could be maintained throughout the year for these two fishes ' in Charlotte County waters, provided,they were followed up in their shiftings from one locality to another.

We reach the general result that in providing both food and suitable water climate for the more important sea fishes, the Passama­ quoddy mixing mechanism is of the greatest importanc~ for the fisheries of the region, and that these conditions are carried by circulation from Charlotte County waters along the Maine coast and also across to Digby County, Nova Scotia. Do the fishery catches bear this out? The latest statistics available to us for the Fisheries of the State of Maine by counties are for the year 1919, so we will consider the catches for the various counties near the mouth of the Bay of Fundy and down the coast of Maine for that year. As they have very different frontages on the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine, we have divided the number of hundred weights for each county by the number of miles of its fro~tage as measured along the general trend of the coast, and multiplied by ten, so that the figures represent the numbers of hundredweights per ten mile frontage for the various counties. We will leave out two counties in Maine, Waldo and Saghadoc, which have very limited frontages. If we take first the totals for cod, haddock, hake, cusk, pollock, herring (including sardines) and mackerel we have the following in round numbers under hundreds: (We have omitted the pickled and smoked fish in the Maine statistics as they are not given on the same basis as the rest. They are of negligible proportion except in the case of the cod and haddock, for

Hancock county). 4 25.

County

Digby, N.S. Annapolis, N.S. St. John, N.B. Charlotte, N.B. Washington, Me. Hancock, Me. Knox, Me. Lincoln, Me. Cumberland, Me. York, Me.

The outstanding character of the fisheries of Charlotte County is sufficiently evident, also the gradually diminishing yield going southwest along the Maine coast, and the moderately high figure for Digby County. This is particularly striking, when it is considered that the fishes taken into account are not similarly affected by the conditions produced by the Passamaquoddy mixing mechanism and in the case of the mackerel there is actually an adverse effect. Also it has not been possible to separate out the catches that are taken off the coast, perhaps at a considerable distance.

Let us now consider some of the fishes separately. The most peculiar fishery of the region is that for the young herring to be canned as sardines. Unfortunately we have not for the counties of Maine the statistics for the sardines separately from the larger herring, so we must take the catches of herring as a whole. These are as follows in round numbers under tens.

County cwts. per Ten Mile Frontage

Digby, N.S. 2,730 Annapolis, N.S. 1,190 St. John, N.B. 4,830 Charlotte, N.B. 170,700 Washington, Me. 70,100 Hancock, Me. 19 , 200 Knox, Me. 36,200 Lincoln, Me. 28,650 Cumberland, Me. 16,950 York, Me. o 26.

These figures should leave no doubt as to where the herring are most abundant and that they steadily give out going south west along the coast of Maine. Digby County shows up poorly because the small herring have never been regularly available in such outstanding quantities as to encourage the starting of sardine factories and it is too distant from the other good fishing grounds to dispose of its catches to the factories there or obtain accessory supplies for its own factories, if it were to c; develop such.

The pollock fishery shows the following.

County Cwts. per 10 mile frontage

Digby, N. S. 8,970 . Annapolis, N.S. 280 St. John, N.B. o Charlotte, N.B. 27,200 Washington, Me. 1,100 Hancock, Me. i,800 Knox, Me. 4,980 Lincoln, Me. 2,610 Cumberland, Me. 9,920 York, Me. 6,830

The result in this instance is not so clear cut, as the offshore catches by large vessels appear to play an important part in swelling the catches for certain of the Maine counties. The great pre-eminence of Charlotte county is nevertheless again noteworthy, with a large quantity for Digby County.

The mackerel shows the other side of the picture, with Charlotte county the centre of a region remarkable for the absence of mackerel which only gradually come in as you leave the region.

County Cwts. per 10 mile frontage

Digby, N.S. 730 Annapolis, N. S. 400 St. John, N.B. o Charlotte, N.B. o Washington, Me. o Hancock, Me. 30 4-.. Knox, Me. 150 Lincoln, Me. 950 Cumberland, Me. 1,100 York, Me. 160 27.

What will be the effect on these fisheries, if the Passamaquoddy mixing mechanism is stopped? That there will be a marked effect we consider to be quite obvious. The sardine fishery not only in Charlotte, but in the neighbouring counties will be wiped out. Not that small herring will disappear, but they will pe in such comparatively small quantities and obtainable neither so regularly, nor so easily as to warrant continuation of the industry. he larger fat herring, used for other purposes, will be " greatly reduced in abundance everywhere in the region. The spawn herring, which are of least value, will be rather readily obtainable at the spawning season, and perhaps in larger numbers than at present, for few are now taken.

The pollock fishery of Charlotte countu, will be practically wiped out, and elsewhere for some distance it will be considerably reduced. The cod and haddock fisheries will be considerably reduced in Charlotte and the neighbouring counties, including Digby. The mackerel fishery will be generally increased throughout the whole region, although because of its being such a migratory fish, and hence so much less dependent upon the local conditions, it is not clear that this increase will be of any con­ siderable dimensions. There will be a very much greater prevalence of dogfish, particularly in Charlotte and the nearer counties. There should be some increase in the lobster fishery in spite of there being less food for them, for the breedingareas in St. Mary's Bay, Mace's Bay, and parts of the coast of Maine will be improved, which will mean more lobsters of a smaller size than at present.

The dulse fishery will probably go out. The scallop, flounder, salmon, shad 'a nd alewife fisheries should not be particularly affected and the tomcod and smelt fisheries should be bettered.

It has been thought that the bad effect of the dams on the fisheries would be limited to Passamaquoddy Bay. It will be seen from the account we have given that this is very far from being the case, for the results will be widespread along the di;ections taken by the circulating water. Undoubtedly the greatest change will be in Passamaquoddy Bay, the fisheries of which willbe entirely altered. The clam industry as well as the sardine industry will be wiped out. Trawling fpr ground fish will be quite unproductive, though there should be fair quantities of hake. 28.

VII SUMMARY

In considering the effect of the dams, we have made little reference to the fact that Cobscook Bay is to be dammed off as well as Passamaquoddy Bay. The former is the smaller, and the extent of the stoppage in the mixing mechanism resulting from its damming may be taken as roughly offsetting the mixing that will continue as the result of the water going through both bays for power purposes.

We may summarize the principal predicted effects of the damming as follows:

1. The strong currents and mixing in the entrances to Passamaquoddy Bay will be almostentirely abolished.

2. The surface water of the region generally, and particularly of Passamaquoddy Bay, will be warmer in summer and colder in

winter, and will also have a lower salinity~ This effect will extend chiefly to Grand Manan and across to Digby County, as well as down the coast of Maine.

3. The deeper water of the region will be colder than at present.

4. Passamaquoddy Bay and theSt. Croix river will freeze solid for months every winter and there will be much more ice around the Bay of Fundy and along the coast of Maine.

5. The region will have considerably less fog during the summer months.

6. The air temperatures will be higher in summer and lower. in winter and this will extend long distances in all directions but particularly toward the northeast.

7. Passamaquoddy Bay will have a tidal rise and fall of five feet or less, the upper limits of which 'will be somewhat below the present high tide level and will have very little current except near the entrances.

8. Navigation inside Passamaquoddy Bay will he easier during the summer, but impossible during the winter.

9. Vessels entering the leaving Passamaquoddy Bay will be delayed by having to pass through locks. 29.

10. Wharves in Passamaquoddy Bay will be more easily built but all wooden structures in the water will be liable to destruction by the ship worm.

11. The rise and fall of the tide in the Bay of Fundy will be definitely increased and this effect will be greatest near the head of the Bay.

12~ The production of fish food in the region generally will be very considerably reduced.

13•. The sardine and clam fisheries of Passamaquoddy Bay will be wiped out, as also those of cod and haddock.

14. The sardine and pollock fisheries of the outer waters of Charlotte County will be wiped out, as also the sardine fishery along thewhole coast.

15. The fishery for the large fat herring through the whole region will be greatly reduced, but that for the spawn herring may be increased.

16. The cod and haddock fisheries of the region generally will be reduced.

17. The mackerel fishery will be increased and dogfish become more abundant.

18. The lobsters will become more numerous but will have a smaller average size.

(