COMMERCIAL AND SPORT SHAD FISHERIES OF 

 THE EDISTO RIVER, SOUTH CAROLINA, 

 1955 



In 1950, the United States Fish and 

 Wildlife Service began a new study.1' of the 

 American shad ( Alosa sapidissima ) sponsored 

 by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Com- 

 mission. The purpose of the study is to de 

 termine causes for the decline in Atlantic 

 coast shad production since 1890 and to recom- 

 mend measures whereby the species may be 

 restored to its former level of abundance . 



Since the inauguration of this investiga- 

 tion a number of Atlantic coast shad producing 

 waters have been studied. They are the Con- 

 necticut River, the Hudson River, the Dela- 

 ware River, Chesapeake Bay and its major 

 tributaries, the Neuse River, the Ogeechee 

 River, and the St. Johns River. During the 

 spring of 1955 efforts were concentrated on 

 the Edisto River in South Carolina. The objec- 

 tive was to determine the present status of the 

 fishery by obtaining statistics on fishing effort, 

 fishing rate, total catch, size of run, and 

 spawning escapement. 



Catch statistics on the Edisto River 

 are almost non-existent for previous years. 

 McDonald (1887) gave the 1880 shad catch for 

 this river as 90,000 pounds- . Stevenson 

 (1899) listed the amount of gear fished and the 

 catch in 1896 as follows: 62 gill nets - 21,967 

 shad, 12 seines - 2,634 shad, and 83 bow nets 

 - 3,672 shad, making a total of 28,273 fish 

 caught by all gears . 



The American shad is the largest mem- 

 ber of the herring family (Clupeidae) in North 

 American waters. It is an anadromous fish, 

 which spends the major portion of its life in 

 the ocean but which returns to fresh water to 

 spawn . The sexually mature adults (3 to 5 

 years old) enter the rivers in the spring for 

 spawning, and it is at this time that they are 

 taken by fishermen. The progeny of the sur- 

 viving fish remain in the rivers until fall and 

 then migrate to the sea. More detailed informa - 

 1/ Previous investigations of South Carolina shad 

 by the Service are reported in Cable (1944). 



tion on the life history of this species can be 

 found in a publication by Bigelow and 

 Schroeder (1953). 



Alonzo Seabrook, Director, Division of 

 Commercial Fisheries, South Carolina Wild- 

 life Resources Department, and G. Robert 

 Lunz, Director, Bears Bluff Laboratories have 

 provided valuable assistance in gathering 

 material for this study. Acknowledgment is 

 also given to the staff of the U.S. Fishery 

 Laboratory, Beaufort, N . C . , for aid in the 

 field and for review of the manuscript. 



Description of the river and shad 

 fishery 



The Edisto River basin is confined to 

 the southern portion of South Carolina where 

 the main Edisto River is formed by the junction 

 of the North and South Edisto Rivers (fig. 1) . 

 The North Edisto has its origin near the town 

 of Batesburg, S. C, and the South Edisto 

 originates near Johnston, S.C. These branches 

 flow parallel (not shown in fig. 1) in a south- 

 easterly direction until they unite near the town 

 of Branchville, S.C. From here, the river 

 continues in a southerly direction until it 

 reaches Givhans Ferry State Park where it 

 abruptly turns southward and eventually enters 

 the Atlantic Ocean at St. Helena Sound. 



The river is approximately 90 miles 

 long, and each branch is about 70 miles long. 

 Most of the river is narrow with overhanging 

 trees, numerous shoals, and loose shifting 

 sand. Drainage from swamps, which generally 

 border the river, gives the water a brownish 

 or tea color. In addition, the Edisto is char- 

 acterized by low turbidity and low alkalinity. 

 There are no dams or falls, and the limit of 

 tidal influence is in the vicinity of Fishburn 

 Landing. 



2/ The average weight of shad caught in this 

 river in 1955 was 3 pounds. Using this aver- 

 age, approximately 30, 000 shad were caught 

 in the Edisto River in 1880. 



