J. PISCICULTURE AND THE FISHERIES. 427 



BRYAN ON THE DECREASE OF SHAD. 



Mr. Bryan, of Maryland, in an article upon the decrease of 

 the shad, published in the Richmond State Journal, takes the 

 ground that it is not to overfishing that the decrease of shad, 

 and other river fish is due, but to the spring floods, which in 

 their course bring down quantities of mud and refuse that 

 injure the spawning beds and destroy the eggs and young 

 fish, besides being extremely obnoxious to the old fishes by 

 getting into their gills and otherwise incommoding them. 

 He also thinks that the action of the steamers in traversing 

 the flats and stirring up the mud exercises a special influence 

 in the same direction. Richmond State Journal. 



SHAD IN ALABAMA. 



We learn from a correspondent that shad have been taken 

 during the present season in a tributary of the Conecuh Riv- 

 er, in Butler County, Alabama. The Conecuh is itself a trib- 

 utary of the Escambia, which empties into the Gulf at Pensa- 

 cola. The occurrence of these fish in this stream is an earn- 

 est of the possibility of stocking all the tributaries of the 

 Gulf of Mexico with this valuable food fish. We have not 

 learned whether shad had been previously planted in the 

 Conecuh, or whether they ascended it spontaneously from the 

 Gulf, but presume, however, that the fact, as stated, is the re- 

 sult of some experimental effort of persons in Alabama inter- 

 ested in pisciculture. There is good reason to believe that a 

 well-directed effort would result in stocking most of the riv- 

 ers of the Gulf with shad, and thereby adding greatly to the 

 food production. Letter. 



SHAD IN ALABAMA WATERS. 



We have already referred to the occurrence of the true 

 shad in the Escambia River of Florida and Alabama, and 

 we learn that they are also met with in the Choctawhatchee 

 River, a stream to the eastward of that mentioned. It is 

 said they were first noticed in these waters about the year 

 1864, and that they have increased in size and quantity ever 

 since that time. They were caught during the present sea- 

 son, from the 15th of March to the 1st of May, in considera- 

 ble number. This fact is encoura^inG; to those who arc ad- 



