Table 44. — Shad catch, by gear and area, Hudson River, 1960 



than those fished in the lower river and are 

 set on the flats in water not more than 15 ft, 

 deep. Because of navigational difficulties in 

 the river from the mouth to Haverstraw Bay, 

 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since 1940 

 has designated areas and lengths of nets that 

 can be used. 



The seine fishery of the Hudson is of little 

 innportance. Two seines in the upper areas 

 caught 3,281 lb. of shad in 1960. 



On the basis of catch- effort statistics, the 

 weight of the total population in 1960 was esti- 

 mated at 1,987,000 lb. and the fishing rate was 

 39 percent. 



Great South Bay and Gardiner s Bay 



Shad were caught incidentally in 1896 in 

 pound nets in Great South and Gardiner s Bays. 

 The estimated catch was 19,275 lb., of which 

 31 pound nets in Great South Bay caught 1,475 

 lb. and 105 pound nets in Gardiners Bay took 

 17,800 lb. 



The 1960 catch of 25,300 lb. of shad also was 

 incidental in pound nets in these areas; 18,900 

 lb. were taken in the ocean from Jones Inlet to 

 Moriches Inlet, and 6,400 lb. in Gardiners, 

 Peconic, and adjacent bays. 



Long Island Sound 



Most of the shad entering Long Island Sound 

 pass along its northern shore and enter the 

 large tributaries flowing into it from Connecti- 

 cut; very few are taken on the New York shore 

 (Stevenson, 1899). More than 300,000 lb. of 

 shad were caught in the Sound and tributaries 

 in 1896. About 95 percent was taken along the 

 northern shore and the rivers flowing therein, 

 and only 5 percent was taken along the southern 

 shore. In the Nissoquogue River, which enters 

 Smithtown Bay, drift nets and spears took an 

 estimated 7,564 lb. Pound nets in Little Neck 

 Bay and tributaries caught about 6,801 lb., and 

 an estimated 1,975 lb. were taken by this gear 

 in the eastern end of the Sound. Only 50 lb. of 

 shad were reported from Long Island Sound in 

 1960. 



TRENDS IN PRODUCTION 



Since the major shad fisheries of New York 

 are located in the Hudson River, fluctuations 

 in annual yield in the State are a reflection of 

 the conditions in this river. The New York 

 shad catch for certain years from 1880to I960 

 is given in table 45. The fishery had its maxi- 

 mum yield from 1880 to 1901, averaging more 

 than 3 million pounds per year. Production 

 then decreased, and from 1904 to 1935 the 

 annual yield was only 11 percent of that in 

 1880-1901. Production increased alter 1935, 

 and from 1937 to 1948 the annual yield fluctu- 

 ated between 1 million pounds in 1937 and 3 

 million pounds in 1945. Production again de- 

 clined, and from 1949 to I960 the annual yield 



Table 45. --Shad catch for certain years. 

 New York, 1880-1960^ 

 [In thousands of pounds] 



Year 



Catch 



Year 



Catch 



1880 2,734 



1887 3,586 



1889 4,332 



1890 3,777 



1891 3,045 



1896 2,201 



1897 1,884 



1901 3,432 



1904 498 



1908 360 



1921 116 



1926 231 



1929 164 



1930 167 



1931 357 



1932 401 



1933 352 



1935 476 



1937 1,021 



1938 1,072 



1939 1,378 



1940 1,382 



1943 2,245 



1944 2,130 



1945 2,850 



1946 1,744 



1947 1,267 



1948 1,393 



1949 900 



1950 628 



1951 462 



1952 773 



1953 491 



1954 707 



1955 615 



1956 704 



1957 627 



1958 644 



1959 672 



1960 472 



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

 Wildlife Service (1958-61). 



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