Table 7. — Shad catch by state and gear, Atlantic coast of the United States, 1896 



[In pounds] 



1896, about 58 percent was taken in pound 

 nets and weirs, 28 percent in drift gill nets, 

 and 14 percent in seines. The principal pro- 

 duction areas were the Connecticut River, 

 Conn., and the Kennebec River, Maine. 



PRESENT FISHERIES 



The shad fishery in I960 had changed little 

 from former years except in size of catch. 

 The gear remained relatively iinchanged, but 

 innprovements had been made in fishing meth- 

 ods with economy as Eui imiportant factor. These 

 improvements included the conversion from 

 cotton and linen to nylon nets, except netting 

 used in the construction of pound nets, seines, 

 and fyke nets; adaptions of nets to the bottom 

 contours, currents, and local conditions of the 

 area in which used; replacement of tar as a 

 preservative and antifouling compound by 

 copper paint in the Chesapeake Bay pound net 

 fishery (Reid, 1955); widened spacing of stakes 

 which support stationary nets (to decrease 

 costs); and use of continuous lengths of netting 

 to replace single panels hung from stakes in 

 some localities. Sundstrom's (1957) illustra- 

 tions and descriptions of gear in commercial 

 fisheries apply in general to shad gear in 

 1960. 



The extent of the fisheries on the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States during the 1960 

 season is given in tables 8 and 9. The estimated 

 catch was 8,133,931 lb., of which about 35 

 percent was taken by stake and anchor gill 

 nets, 28 percent by drift gill nets, 16 percent 

 by pound nets, 4 percent by seines, 4 percent 

 by bow nets, 4 percent by rod and reel, and 



the remainder by otter trawls, fyke nets, 

 traps, fish wheels, and other miscellaneous 

 gears. 



The ocean shad catch in 1960 was about 

 865,300 lb., compared with 7,268,631 lb. taken 

 within the coastline. With the exception of 

 159,700 lb. caught by anchor gill nets off the 

 mouth of the St. Johns River, none was taken 

 in the ocean south of New Jersey. Pound nets, 

 anchor gill nets, and otter trawls took 42,700 

 lb. between Point Pleasant and Sandy Hook, 

 N.J.; and about 662,900 lb. were taken inci- 

 dentally by otter trawls, gill nets, and pound 

 nets operated for other species, from Long 

 Island to Maine. 



The South Atlantic fisheries ranked first in 

 yield with 3,026,233 lb., Chesapeake Bay fish- 

 eries second with 2,795,091 lb.. New England 

 fisheries third with 1,159,185 lb., and the 

 Middle Atlantic fisheries fourth with 1 ,153,422 

 lb. Of the South Atlantic catch, gill nets caught 

 67 percent, seines 11 percent, bow nets 10 

 percent, rod and reel 7 percent, pound nets 

 4 percent, and fyke nets and miscellaneous 

 gear the remainder. In Chesapeake Bay, gill 

 nets took 64 percent of the catch, pound nets 

 33 percent, and seines, fyke nets, and rod and 

 reel the remainder. In New Englamd, mis- 

 cellaneous gear produced 55 percent of the 

 catch, rod and reel 7 percent, auid gill nets 

 and pound nets yielded only 36 and 2 percent, 

 respectively. In the Middle Atlamtic, gill nets 

 caught 77 percent of the catch, pound nets 22 

 percent, and seines and otter trawls the 

 remainder. 



The rank in shad catch by states in 1960 

 was: first, Maryland, 1,408,953 lb.; second, 

 Virginia, 1,386,138 1b.; and third, NorthCaro- 

 lina, 1,266,328 lb. 



15 



