550 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



For instance, Neitzey Brothers, whose 

 seine at Ferry Landing was referred to 

 heretofore, report that in 1909 they 

 caught 9,000 shad, that in 1913 it was 

 900. and in 1913 it was 700. Ferry 

 Landing, where this seine was operated, 

 is on the Potomac River but a few miles 

 from ^It. A^ernon. 



The enormous decHne in the total 

 catch of shad in Virginia and Maryland 

 is shown by the following tables : 



Jlrginia.*— 1897, 11,529,474 pounds; 

 1909, "7,421,864 pounds; 1913, 2,752,321 

 pounds. 



Maryland *~18d0, 7,127,486 pounds ; 

 1900, 3,111,181 pounds; 1912, 1,912,240 

 pounds. 



In vain has the United States Bureau 

 of Fisheries sounded repeated warnings 

 of the rapidly disappearing shad. In 

 the annual report of the Secretary of 

 Commerce for 1913 appears the follow- 

 ing significant statement : 



"The immediate cause of the failure 

 of the shad and herring fisheries in 1913 

 is the diminished run of spawning fish 

 into Chesapeake Bay from the sea and 

 the enormous quantity of apparatus 

 among which a limited catch had to be 

 divided. Inasmuch as the great bulk of 

 the yield is taken in salt water, the rem- 

 nant that was able to reach the spawn- 

 ing grounds in the streams was insig- 

 nificant and wholly inadequate to main- 

 tain the supply. 



"The remote cause of the present 

 condition is excessive fishing in former 

 years and the lack of even the minimum 

 amount of protection that is demanded 

 bv regard for the most elementary prin- 

 ciples of fishery conservation. Fish en- 

 tering Chesapeake Bay have to run 

 through such a maze of nets that the 

 wonder is that any are able to reach 

 their spawning grounds and deposit 

 their eggs. The mouth of every impor- 

 tant shad and herring stream in the 

 Chesapeake Basin is literally clogged 

 with nets that are set for the special 

 purpose of intercepting every fish, 

 whereas a proper regard for the future 

 welfare of the fisheries and for the 

 needs of the migrating schools would 

 cause the nets to be set so as to insure 

 the escape of a certain proportion of 

 the spawning fish. 



"Adequate protection of the fishes is 

 compatible with great freedom of fish- 

 ery and with a large and increasing 

 yield. A very slight curtailment of the 

 catch, perhaps as little as 10 per cent 

 in any given year, may be sufficient to 

 perpetuate the species and result in in- 

 creased production in a few years. To 

 disregard a requirement so small and to 

 permit the continuance of an evil so 

 serious simply invites and encourages 

 the destruction of a most valuable food 

 supply." 



A Female Salmon. 



The present has been a disastrous sea- 

 son to the shad fishery. Hardly a com- 

 mercial fisherman reports sufftcient 

 catch to show a profit, and as a result 

 never as before attention has been di- 

 rected to the necessity for laws and reg- 

 ulations that will prevent the complete 

 destruction of the shad. The constantly 

 ebbing supply of this fish is reflected in 

 the take of shad eggs at the two prin- 

 cipal propagating stations of the Bureau 

 of Fisheries, one located on the Potomac 



* From United States Government Report. 



