proceed to the dam at Lowell, which was im- 

 passable (Collins, 1951). The number of shad 

 annually ascending the fishway was from 1,500 

 to 3,000 fish. In 1946 a catch of 75,000 lb. was 

 made in Newburyport Harbor, though these 

 may have been migrating fish from another 

 area which had moved inshore. Connmercial 

 shad fishing at the mouth of the river is 

 sporadic, and in some years there is none 

 at all. In 1960 no fish were reported taken. 



Most of the catch in Essex County, Mass., 

 which includes the Merrimack River, was 

 landed in Gloucester. In recent years, large 

 numbers of shad have been landed during the 

 summer by purse seiners fishing for Atlantic 

 menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus , and river 

 herring, Alosa aestivalis , and sold to reduction 

 plants. The 1960 landings of shad were a little 

 above 0.5 million pounds (Dwight L. Hoy, Bu- 

 reau of Commiercial Fisheries, Gloucester, 

 Mass., personal communication dated Sep- 

 tember 26, 1960). Mature and immature fish 

 from all Atlantic coast streams, Florida to 

 Canada, spend their summers in the Gulf of 

 Maine, but their schooling habits in this area 

 are unknown. If the purse seine fishery con- 

 tinues to take large quantities of shad, it could 

 have a disastrous effect on coastal stocks, 

 especially if the catch is composed of fish 

 from only two or three rivers. The impact of 

 this take perhaps can be realized from the 

 fact that the estimated annual sizes of shad 

 populations during the past 5 yr. have aver- 

 aged 3.5 million pounds in the Hudson River 

 and 1.0 million pounds in the Connecticut 

 River. 



Connecticut River 



The Connecticut River crosses Massachu- 

 setts in its southward flow from northern New 

 Hampshire to Long Island Sound (fig. 2 5). The 

 Massachusetts section of the river had an in- 

 tensive sport fishery for shad in 1960, which 

 extended 16 miles from the Connecticut border 

 northward to the Hadley Falls Dam inHolyoke, 

 Mass. Fish were landed near the Willimansett 

 and South Hadley Bridges by fishermen fishing 

 from bank, boat, and bridge. Although most 

 fishermen fished from bridges, mostfishwere 

 taken by boat fishermen. In 1960, 6,800 fish 

 were taken in this area. Additional infor- 

 mation on the Connecticut River is included 

 in the discussion of the fisheries of Con- 

 necticut. 



TRENDS IN PRODUCTION 



Industrial development of Massachusetts 

 during the 1800's resulted in the construction 

 of many dams that essentially eliminated shad 

 runs by barring fish from their spawning 

 grounds. Fish caught subsequently in Massa- 

 chusetts waters were largely native to other 

 areas and were taken incidental to the catch 

 of other species. 



Massachusetts landings have fluctuated 

 widely over the years (table 51). From 1887to 

 1955 the catch ranged from 9,000 to 389,000 lb. 

 After 1955 the catch increased severalfold, 

 reaching a maximum of 2,214,000 lb. in 1957. 

 As pointed out in a previous section, this catch 

 was made by purse seines fishing for Atlantic 

 menhaden. The catch was alnnost six times 

 greater in 1960 than in 1896. 



Table 51. --Shad catch for certain years, 

 Massachusetts, 1887-1960^ 



[In thousands of pounds] 



Statistics 1887-1960, U. S. Fish Commission, 

 U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, and U. S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 



^ Data for 1960 from Dwight L. Hoy, U. S. 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Gloucester, Mass. 

 (personal conununication dated September 26, 

 1960). 



SHAD FISHERIES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 



The Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers in 

 New Hampshire formerly supported shad fish- 

 eries. No fish have been reported in these 

 waters, however, for more than 100 yr. Shad 

 formerly ascended the Connecticut to Bellows 



Falls near Walpole, N.H., but a dam built in 

 1798 at Turners Falls, Mass., completely 

 blocked their upstream passage (Stevenson, 

 1899). They ascended the Merrimack to Frank- 

 lin, N.H., and the junction of the Pemigewasset 



85 



