INTRODUCTION 



A survey of Maine streams which formerly supported shad runs was 

 conducted during the summer of 1950 to assess the factors contributing 

 to the decline and completfij, or nearly complete, extinction of shad in 

 Maine, to determine to what extent these factors are still operative, and 

 to investigate the suitability of certain streams as sites for stocking 

 attempts at some future date. 



Since practically no commercial fishery for shad has existed in Maine 

 rivers for raariy years, and since only a comparatively small number of former 

 shad fishermen can now be found from vrhom first-hand inform.ation can be ob- 

 tained^ it was necessary to rely heavilj;- on historical accounts of shad and 

 the shad fishery in Maine rivers for inf orraatior concerning their former 

 abundance and for evidence of the conditions which may have contributed to 

 their disappearance. The annual return of tremendous numbers of shad to 

 almost every river and stream of any consequence in Maine, as well as the 

 early disappearance of this fish from many streams, 'did not go unremarked in 

 the chronicles of the early settlements. 



A review of historical accounts of shad in Maine rivers preceded the 

 field survey, and this review proved valuable in indicating those rivers 

 where field work could be done most pTofitably. Streams with no past his- 

 tory of shad runs were examined cursorily, if at all. Streams which once 

 had important shad runs were examined more thoroughly, expeciallj'- in those 

 instances in which the streams are not presently obstructed by artificial 

 barriers. Rivers and streams obstructed near brackish water by impassable 

 dams were examined only superficially. The major portion of the field work 

 was devoted to those streams where small shad runs still exist, and to streams 

 which formerly had runs of commercial importance and in which dams or other 

 obstructions do not prevent access to former spawning areas. 



Part I of this report considers the former shad rivers of the State in 

 their order along the coast from west to east. Historical information, where 

 available, is summarized for each river, together with a description of present 

 conditions as revealed by field work. 



Part II is an attempt to evaluate the various factors which may have 

 contributed to the disappearance of shad from the various rivers of the 

 State. 



