from October 16 to May 25. Fishing was legal 

 7 days a week during the season. Because of 

 possible navigational difficulties, locations 

 fished by stationary nets in Chesapeake Bay 

 and its tributaries were designated by the U.S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers so that shipping 

 channels were unobstructed. 



During I960 several types of commercial 

 gear were used in the shad fishery. Pound 

 nets were used principally on the western 

 shore of Chesapeake Bay and in the mouths of 

 tributaries. Stake gill nets were set in the 

 lower sections of the tributaries, which are 

 essentially arms of the Bay. A few fyke nets 

 and haul seines were fished in the stake gill 

 net areas, but caught few shad. Drift gill nets 

 were the only gear in the upper section of the 

 rivers, with the exception of a few stake gill 

 nets and an occasional fyke net. 



Chesapeake Bay in Virginia 



Chesapeake Bay, located in Virginia and 

 Maryland, is 190 miles long. The mouth of 

 the Bay, between Capes Charles and Henry, 

 Va., is 13.8 miles wide. The width of the Bay 

 proper varies from 12 to 24 miles in Virginia 

 and from 3 to 16 miles in Maryland. Tribu- 

 taries supporting shad fisheries in Virginia 

 in 1896 were the James, York, and Rappa- 

 hannock Rivers, plus the Potomac River (see 

 section on Potomac River.). Mobjack Bay, a 

 lateral extension of the Chesapeake, was also 

 an innportant production area. This Bay, lo- 

 cated immediately north of the York River, 

 is 12 miles long, 3 to 4 miles wide, and 18 to 

 25 ft. deep. 



Shad migrate along the western shore of 

 Chesapeake Bay, apparently attracted by the 

 fresh water from the large tributaries that 

 enter from the west (Stevenson, 1899). The 

 shad season of 1896 began about March 20, and 

 fish were taken until the end of June. During 

 this period, more than 4 1/2 million pounds 

 were caught in Virginia waters of the Bay- -97 

 percent on the western shore. From the Bay 

 entrance to the mouth of the Potomac River, 

 excluding Mobjack Bay, 404 pound nets caught 

 3,737,477 lb., and 12,470 yd. of stake gill net 

 took 151,868 lb. In Mobjack Bay, 70 pound nets 

 produced 490,885 lb. On the Eastern Shore, 

 50 pound nets caught 126,954 lb. 



In 1960, 158 pound nets were fished in Virginia 

 waters of Chesapeake Bay. On the western 

 shore, 132 nets were used--7 from Cape Henry 

 to the mouth of the James River, 30 from the 

 James to the mouth of the York River, 52 

 from the York to the nnouth of the Rappa- 

 hannock River, and 43 from the Rappahannock 

 to the Maryland line at Smith Point, Va. 

 Twenty-four pound nets were fished in Mobjack 

 Bay. On the Eastern Shore, two pound nets were 

 fished near Tangier Island, Md. The estimated 

 catch in Virginia waters of the Bay in I960 



was 488,200 lb. In addition, pound nets and 

 gill nets fished in bays and inlets along the 

 Atlantic shore, exclusive of Chesapeake Bay, 

 caught an estimated 5,000 lb. 



The shad catch in the Virginia part of 

 Chesapeake Bay, as in many other areas, de- 

 clined over the past century. In 1896, 76 pound 

 nets in Mobjack Bay produced an estimated 

 490,885 lb., whereas 24 nets in the same area 

 in I960 yielded 78,578 lb. The catch in the 

 entire Bay declined from 4,507,184 lb. in 1896 

 to a low of 488,200 lb. in I960. 



James River 



The James River, the southernnnost tribu- 

 tary of Chesapeake Bay, lies entirely in Vir- 

 ginia. The river has its source in the Allegheny 

 Mountains, where it is formed by the union of 

 the Jackson and Cowpasture Rivers in Bote- 

 tourt County. It is 350 miles long and flows 

 through Richmond and into the Bay at Norfolk. 

 The lower 42 miles of river form an arm of 

 the Bay, which is fron-i 2 to 6 miles wide. The 

 main tributaries are the North, Buffalo, Slate, 

 Rivanna, Willis, Appomattox, and Chicka- 

 hominy Rivers; only the latter two support 

 shad fisheries. 



The Chickahominy River originates in 

 Henrico County 12 miles northwest of Rich- 

 mond and flows 60 miles before entering the 

 James 42 miles from Chesapeake Bay. In 1943 

 a low-head dam, which obstructs theupstreani 

 movement of fish, was constructed at Walker, 

 20 miles above the mouth of the tributary. 



The Appomattox River, the longest tributary 

 of the James, rises in Appomattox County and 

 flows 140 miles before entering the James at 

 Hopewell, 72 miles from Chesapeake Bay. A 

 dam built on the Appomattox at Petersburg 

 during the nnid-1800's did not seriously affect 

 the shad runs because natural falls and rapids 

 are located imnnediately upstream from the 

 dam. 



The shad catch of the James River and trib- 

 utaries in 1896 was 1,728,707 lb., of which the 

 river proper produced approximately 65 per- 

 cent, the Chickahominy 30 percent, and the 

 Appomattox 5 percent. The principal fishing 

 gear below the Chickahominy was the stake 

 gill net, with an occasional pound net or seine. 

 From the Chickahominy to the Appomattox, 

 drift gill nets were the principal gear, but 

 some seines and stake gill nets were fished 

 locally. Above the Appomattox, drift gill nets 

 were fished except in the falls below Richmond 

 where traps were used. 



The Chickahominy River was one of the 

 most productive shad streams for its size in 

 the United States in 1896. Fish ascended this 

 tributary to the vicinity of Providence Forge, 

 30 miles above the mouth. The estimated catch 

 was 526,368 lb., of which 459,035 lb. were 

 caught by 28,842 yd. of drift gill nets, fished 



48 



