3o6 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



Shad are caught principally with pound nets, gill nets, and seines. Small quantities 

 are taken with fyke nets, otter trawls, purse seines, traps, and dip nets. 



Introductions. In the late iSoo's, many introductions of the fry were attempted 

 by the former U. S. Fish Commission and U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, but all failed; 

 large shipments were liberated in the streams tributary to the Gulf of Mexico, in Great 

 Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and Bear Lake, Utah, and in the Colorado River at the Needles, 

 Arizona. 



In the 1870's, the New York State Fish Commission introduced numerous fry 

 in streams tributary to Lake Ontario and in some of the smaller lakes connected to 

 it. According to Smith {118: 193), 658,000 fry were introduced, and "the appearance 

 of adult shad promptly followed the introduction of young fish in the Genesee River, 

 and from that time on for a number of years the indications pointed to the probable 

 successful acclimatization of the species." These fish distributed themselves over the 

 entire lake and were taken at irregular intervals from 1875 ^"^ about 1885; but few, 

 if any, were seen after 1890. Hubbs and Lagler reported: "In the Great Lakes rare, 

 and confined to the Lake Ontario Basin" [^2: I'f). 



Remarkable success has resulted from stocking waters of the Pacific coast north 

 of Monterey, California. The first fry, about 12,000, were planted in 1871 in the 

 Sacramento River by the California Fish Commission, and additional shipments were 

 sent there by the United States Fish Commission between 1 873-1 880. On the northern 

 part of the Pacific coast, fry were introduced in the Willamette, Snake, and Columbia 

 rivers in 1885 and 1886. From these plantings the species has spread from California 

 to Alaska, and it has become important commercially from San Francisco northward; 

 the catch during recent years generally has exceeded two million pounds. ^^ 



Artificial Propagation. This species received the attention of fish culturists as early 

 as 1848 when eggs were taken artificially and hatched. However, it was not until 1867 

 that a really successful apparatus was perfected. This contrivance was known as the 

 "Seth Green box," a floating box modified after one used for hatching salmon eggs. 

 However, when used in tidal waters It was subject to accidents. Thereafter various devices 

 were brought forward in rapid succession, and finally (in 1882) the "universal jar" or 

 "McDonald jar," a modification of the "Chase jar" used for hatching whitefish eggs, 

 was adopted by the U. S. Fish Commission and is still In use. Many millions of fry, 

 or newly hatched larvae, have been liberated In the streams along the Atlantic coast. 



Range. The regular range of the American Shad extends from the lower St. Law- 

 rence River and Nova Scotlan Banks as far south as Indian River City, Florida. The 

 most northerly record is for one taken in Bulls Bay near St. John's, Newfoundland 

 {l: 125). On the Pacific coast It now ranges from about San Pedro, California, to south- 

 eastern Alaska (xjj: 221). 



Synonyms and References: 



Clupea sapidissima Wilson in Rees's New Cyclopedia, g,ca. i8i i : no pagination (orig. descr.; no local.; probably 

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Jordan and Gilbert, Bull. U. S. nat. Mus., 16, 1882: 267 (descr., range) ; 



28. For further details concerning their artificial propagation and distribution, see A Manual of fish Culture {2: 133-158). 



