Table 32. --Shad catch, by gear, Potomac River, Md., 1960 



In addition to the commercial catch, shad 

 were taken near the Chain Bridge with dip 

 nets and rod and reel from the first of May- 

 through the first week of June. Six dip nets 

 on the Virginia shore above the bridge took 

 an estimated 750 lb., 90 percent of which were 

 males. Rod-and-reel fishermen took an esti- 

 mated 300 lb. below the Chain Bridge. 



The total 1960 yield was the smallest ever 

 recorded for the Potomac, except for 1958, 

 and was less than 7 percent of the 1896 catch. 



In 1919 the Bureau of Fisheries recognized 

 the need for investigating the Potomac shad 

 fishery to 'determine the relative importance 

 of factors contributing to the decline in abun- 

 dance. An annual statistical canvass was 

 undertaken to provide information for deter- 

 mining changes in the fishery and to find means 

 for possible restorationof favorable conditions 

 for reproduction and growth of anadronnous 

 species (Bureau of Fisheries, 1919-40). Fac- 

 tors reported as contributing to depletion were: 

 intensive fishing; changed conditions in the 

 river resulting from the advance of civiliza- 

 tion; and changed weather conditions affecting 

 the migration of shad into and up the river. 

 Because the annual canvasses did not provide 

 information on fishing effort, these data could 

 not be used in our studies of factors affecting 

 size of run and their relation to fluctuations 

 in abundance. 



Patuxent River 



The Patuxent River is located entirely in 

 Maryland. It rises in Howard and Montgomery 

 Counties and flows 110 miles to the western 

 shore of Chesapeake Bay, 20 miles north of 

 the Potomac River. 



In 1896 shad ascended the Patuxent River to 

 Laurel (95 miles from the mouth), where two 

 danns prevented further upstream migration. 



but most were caught below Drury. The esti- 

 mated catch was 188,262 lb., of which 87,651 

 lb. were caught by seines, 70,840 lb. by drift 

 gill nets, and 29,771 lb. by pound nets. Pound 

 nets, fished in the lower river, mostly between 

 Point Patience and Drum Point, caught more 

 ale-wives, Alosa pseudoharengus, than shad. 

 Seines were operated in the upper reaches of 

 the Patuxent in Prince Georges and Anne 

 Arundel Counties where the river was 500 to 

 600 ft. wide. The nets ranged from 100 to 200 

 yd. long and had 2 1/2- or 2 3/4-in. mesh. 

 Drift nets were operated near Dunkirk and 

 Leon; each was about 200 ft. long and had 5- 

 to 5 3/8-in. mesh. 



The Patuxent was free of obstructions to 

 passage of fish in I960, and shad ascended 

 the river at least 50 miles to Hills Bridge. 

 The spawning grounds were from Drury to 

 Lower Marlboro. 



The estimated catch in I960 was 807 lb., of 

 which gill nets took 482 lb. and drift gill nets 

 325 lb. In addition, unlicensed gill nets caught 

 slightly less than 2,000 lb. Stake gill nets that 

 were 100 to 200 yd. long and 25 to 35 meshes 

 deep and had 4 l/2- to 5 l/2-in. mesh were 

 fished the first 32 miles from the mouth of 

 the river to Lower Marlboro. The greater 

 concentration was from the mouth to Benedict. 

 Drift nets, 100 yd. long, 35 to 45 meshes deep, 

 and with 5- to 5 l/2-in. mesh, were operated 

 from Lower Marlboro halfway to Upper Marl- 

 boro. Unlicensed gill nets, ranging from 20 to 

 30 yd. long, were fished above the drift net 

 area. Seines, pound nets, and fyke nets be- 

 tween Benedict and Lower Marlboro occa- 

 sionally took shad, but none was reported 

 during the I960 season. It was illegal to fish 

 drift nets from the mouth of the river to High- 

 way 231 bridge near Benedict. In previous 

 seasons, shad were taken by rod and reel in 

 the Patuxent below Hardesty (Mansueti and 

 Kolb, 1953), but none was reported in I960. 



58 



