The period of canal-dam construction on the 

 Susquehanna was 1830-1909. In 1896fourdams 

 were on the 174 miles of river between the 

 mouth and Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The first, 7 or 

 8 ft. high and 6,800 ft. long, at Columbia, Pa., 

 was the principal cause for the decline of the 

 upriver fisheries. Breaks that frequently oc- 

 curred in the dam, permitted shad to pass up- 

 stream to the second canal dam at Clarks 

 Ferry, Pa., just above the entrance of the 

 Juniata River and 40 miles above Columbia. 

 The second dam was 7 ft. high and nearly 

 2,000 ft. long. At Sunbury, 38 miles above 

 Clarks Ferry, was a third canal dam, 7 1/2 ft. 

 high and 2,600 ft. long. The fourth was the 

 Nanticoke canal dam, 6 ft. high and 900 ft. 

 long, 7 miles below Wilkes-Barre. Attempts 

 were made to provide fish passage over the 

 canal dams, but none was successful. 



There were a dozen or more old dams be- 

 tween the Nanticoke Dam and the New York 

 line. At Binghamton was a crib dam 5 1/2 ft. 

 high and 450 ft. long extending entirely across 

 the stream. Above this structure were several 

 primitive crib dams that had falls of 3 to 

 10 ft. 



During the canal-dam period the number of 

 shad reaching the river above Columbia less- 

 ened and then became irregular, depending 

 upon breaks in the obstructions. In 1896, 14 

 seines fished betweeru the dam at Columbia 

 and Clarks Ferry caught an estimated 23,639 

 lb., and 2 seines fished on the Juniata caught 

 an estimated 2,820 lb. (table 37). The seines 

 ranged from 80 to 250 yd. long and had 4 1/2- 

 to 5 l/2-in. mesh. Below the Columbia dam 

 the estimated catch was 256,784 lb., of which 

 6,360 yd. of seine took 83 percent and 51 bow 

 nets the remainder. 



The catch of shad in 1908 represented 79 

 percent of the total landings and 73 percent 

 of the total value of fish caught in the Susque- 

 hanna River. About 67 percent of the catch 

 was made by dip and bow nets and the re- 

 mainder by seines and gill nets (Bureau of 

 the Census, 191 1). 



After 1900 four hydroelectric power dams 

 were built on the Susquehanna River between 

 its mouth and Harrisburg, Pa., 65 miles up- 

 stream (Whitney, 1961). The first was built in 

 1904 at York Haven, Pa., but the power plant 

 section was not completed until 19 16. Its height 

 varied from 6 ft. at the western shore to 22 ft. 

 at the eastern shore; at river stages above 

 6 ft., fish could pass upstream. In 1910 a 

 second hydroelectric power dam was con- 

 structed- -Holtwood Dam. A fishladder was 

 included in this structure, and another was 

 installed in 1913, but both failed to pass fish. 

 In 1909 the estimated shad catch in the Sus- 

 quehanna was 217,000 lb.; in 1915 it was 

 33,000 lb. A third dam was constructed in 

 1928 at Conowingo. It is the farthest down- 

 stream and is also the highest- -about 95 ft. 

 at normal head. This structure is 8 miles 



below the Pennsylvania- Maryland line and 

 completely obstructs the upstream movement 

 of fish. A fourth hydroelectric power dam, 

 the Safe Habor Dam, was constructed in 1931 

 between the Holtwood and York Haven Dams. 



The Joint State Government Commission 

 of Pennsylvania in 1949 investigated fish- 

 way problems on the Susquehanna River 

 (Whitney, 1961). The Commission reported that 

 the shad fisheries in the Pennsylvania part of 

 the river had been economically important 

 before 1900. Dam construction, overfishing, 

 and pollution were suggested as causes for 

 decline in catch. The Commission recom- 

 mended that a resolution be introduced into the 

 General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 

 Pennsylvania asking that the Congress of the 

 United States direct a general study of the 

 biological and hydraulic factors that need to 

 be understood if effective fishways are to be 

 built for shad. 



In 1952 a total of 1,176 adult shad were 

 planted- -209 above Conowingo Dam and 967 

 above Safe Harbor Dam. No evidence of suc- 

 cessful spawning above these structures was 

 found (Walburg, 1954). 



From 1957 to 1960 the Maryland Department 

 of Research and Education authorized a study 

 on the desirability and feasibility of passing 

 fish at Conowingo Dam (Whitney, 1961). Con- 

 clusions reached in this study were: 'Although 

 small spawning runs of shad reach Conowingo 

 Dam, provision of passage for them over the 

 dam is unlikely to result in successful spawn- 

 ing in the reservoir with consequent increase 

 in total shad stocks; and is also unlikely to 

 provide significant catches of shad in the 

 reservoir. " 



The Pennsylvania Fish Commission has 

 completed engineering and biological studies 

 on fish passage at dams on the Susquehanna 

 River (Bell and Holmes, 1962). At the time 

 of this report, steps are being taken to develop 

 further studies to determine the feasibility of 

 passing shad above the dams. 



Delaware River 



Residents of Pennsylvania caught more than 

 2 million pounds of shad in the Delaware River 

 and Bay in 1896 (table 37). In the Bay 6,000 

 yd. of drift gill net took 74,886 lb. Of the 

 2,143,014 lb. taken in the river, drift gill net 

 fishermen took about 52 percent, seme fisher- 

 men 47 percent, and spear fishermen the 

 remainder. 



In recent years the abundance of shad in 

 the Pennsylvania portion of the Delaware River 

 has been so low that commercial fishing has 

 practically stopped. In 1946 the fisheries on 

 the Delaware River were limited mainly to the 

 lower reaches of the river and Bay below 

 Pennsylvania (Ellis et al., 1947). The Milford 

 (Pa.) Shad Club reported that their annual 



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