Table 33. --Shad catch for certain years, 

 Maryland, 1880-1960^ 



[in thoxisands of pounds] 



Year 



Catch 



1880 3,774 



1887 4,041 



1888 4,868 



1890 7,128 



1891 6,225 



1896 5,541 



189^^ .... 5,800 



1901 3,111 



1904 2,912 



1908 3,937 



1909 3,253 



1915 1,455 



1920 1,867 



1921 1,807 



1925 1,260 



1929 1,549 



1930 998 



1931 1,196 



1932 1,667 



1933 1,374 



1934 885 



1935 800 



1936 570 



Year 



Catch 



1937 405 



1938 600 



1939 624 



1940 446 



1941 534 



1942 725 



1944 711 



1945 617 



1946 719 



1947 868 



1948 1,004 



1949 1,083 



1950 1,^*43 



1951 1,554 



1952 1,636 



1953 1,448 



1954 1,501 



1955 1,464 



1956 2,092 



1957 2,356 



1958 1,900 



1959 1,481 



1960 1,336 



^Statistics 1880-1959, U.S. Fish and Wild- 

 life Service (1958-61). 



Prior to 1880 the Commission of Fisheries 

 of Maryland noted a decrease in abundance of 

 shad and other valuable food fishes (Ferguson 

 and Downes, 1876; Ferguson and Hughlett, 

 1880). The decline inavailability was attributed 

 to overfishing, blocking of fish from their 

 spawning grounds, and destruction of young 

 by innproper means and modes of capture. The 

 primary ren-iedies offered to arrest the de- 

 crease in abundance were artificial propaga- 

 tion and restrictions on fishing season and 

 commercial gear. 



From 1880 to 1890 shad production in- 

 creased from less than 4 nnillion pounds to 

 more than 7 million pounds. Factors which 

 contributed to this increase were principally 

 an expansion in numbers of fishermen and 

 amount of fishing gear, and in nnethods and 

 effectiveness. Gill nets and pound nets were 

 introduced by New England fishermen; haul 

 seines had been the principal gear up to the 

 mid- 1880's. 



Shad production decreased after 1890, and by 

 1915 was less than 1.5 million pounds (records 

 for 9 yr.). For the next 20 yr., average annual 

 production was less than 1.5 million pounds; 

 the high was more than 1.8 million pounds in 

 1920 and the low was 0.8 million in 1935. From 

 these figures it may be supposed that the fluc- 



tuations in production may have been due to 

 changes in fishing pressure, reduction of 

 spawning areas by construction of dams in 

 some rivers, and other complex factors. 



Production remained relatively low from 

 1936 to 1947 after which it again increased. 

 The average annual production from 1948 to 

 1960 was slightly more than 1.5 million pounds; 

 production in 1960 was less than average and 

 less than 25 percent of the 1896 catch. 



From a study of statistics on shad pro- 

 duction in Chesapeake Bay, Hildebrand and 

 Schroeder (1928) noted that larger and more 

 effective fishing gear had been used from 

 year to year, and they suggested that the 

 decline in abundance prior to 1925 was at- 

 tributable to overfishing and to pollution in 

 the streams. No physical data were offered 

 ho'wever, to support their views. 



Quittmeyer (1957) made a comprehensive 

 analysis on the econonnic conditions affecting 

 the fisheries of Maryland and Virginia. He 

 reported that the period 1935-51 offers a 

 picture of supply during economic depression, 

 war, and a postwar period. These conditions 

 appeared to have little effect on the shad fish- 

 ery, except that during World War II the shad 

 were fished heavily because of the shortage 

 of meat and catches were large. 



The Maryland Management Plan was de- 

 signed primarily to rehabilitate the fisheries 

 for shad and other "herrings" in Maryland 

 waters. Catch statistics do not indicate that 

 the plan has been successful. One of the 

 problems in administering it has been that 

 increases in gear should take place only when 

 the stock of fish increases, not necessarily 

 when the catch increases. Also, the unit of 

 effort has been difficult to assess. Further- 

 more, none of the catch and fishing effort is 

 reported for legal unlicensed fishing. The 

 catch by legal unlicensed gear m 1952 was 

 about 68 percent as great as the total catch 

 reported by all licensed Maryland shad fisher- 

 men (Walburg, 1955). 



It is exceedingly difficult to evaluate the 

 factors that might have caused changes in the 

 size of the Maryland shad population because 

 of the unknown effect of the Virginia shad 

 fishery on the Maryland population (Walburg, 

 1955). Shad must pass through the Virginia 

 fishery to enter Maryland waters of Chesa- 

 peake Bay. The number available to Maryland 

 fishermen fronn a run of given size is in part 

 a function of the fishing effort in Virginia 

 waters of the Bay. The effect of the Virginia 

 fishery n^ay not be as serious, however, as 

 some of the other complex factors affecting 

 the availability of shad in Maryland waters, 

 since Whitney (1961) estimated that only 3 

 percent of the catch of runs bound for the Sus- 

 quehanna area in 1959 was nnade in Virginia 

 waters. Successful management probably re- 

 quires consideration of Chesapeake Bay stocks 

 as units without regard topoliticalboundaries. 



62 



