mechanisms have been tried, and sonne have 

 shown great promise in pilot studies, but none 

 has proved successful at full-scale instal- 

 lations. These guides included electrical 

 screens, sound, air bubbles, and skimmer nets. 

 Considerable work currently is in progress 

 by both Federal and State agencies to find a 

 safe method of passing young salmon down- 

 stream over dams (Andrew and Geen, I960). 

 These methods, if perfected, will probably be 

 applicable to shad and other species. 



REGULATIONS 



Fishery management has been defined as the 

 institution of various measures or regulations 

 to establish or permit a fishery to produce the 

 optimum yield from a given stock of fish 

 (Herrington, 1943). 



Restrictions on shad fishing were among the 

 earliest fishery management measures estab- 

 lished in the United States. By 1896 almost 

 every Atlantic Coast State had laws setting 

 seasons, regulating size and meshes of nets, 

 and sometinnes restricting catch (Stevenson, 

 1899). The purpose of these laws was to pre- 

 vent the decline in shad, which began as early 

 as 1830 in New England (Atkins, 1887; True 

 and Wilcox, 1887). Laws varied from State to 

 State, but adjacent States usually had similar 

 regulations. 



Management of shad resources to obtainhigh 

 yields has been attempted through regulations 

 and licensing schemes which seek to reduce 

 size of catch by limiting the number of fisher- 

 men and kind, amount, and mesh size of gear 

 fished; establishing location of fishing areas, 

 fishing seasons and rest days; and establish- 

 ing size limits on fish landed. Regulations in 

 effect in 1960 are given in the discussion of 

 the fisheries of each State. Establishment of 

 rest days to reduce fishing effort, and thereby 

 allow more fish to spawn, has been used ef- 

 fectively by New Jersey, New York, and Con- 

 necticut. The Maryland Fishery Management 

 Plan, begun in 1941, was established to stabilize 



fishing effort by limiting the number of fisher- 

 nnen and the amount of gear and to maintain 

 the fish population at a high level. When the 

 plan was established, no biological studies 

 were made to determine the size of the Mary- 

 land shad population and the spawning escape- 

 ment necessary to maintain abundant fish 

 stocks. The Maryland Plan has merit, but it 

 apparently was not put into effect successfully, 

 however, because fishing effort was not stab- 

 ilized (Walburg, 1955). 



In recent years, many Atlantic Coast States 

 have established regulations to reduce or pro- 

 hibit deposition of industrial and domestic 

 pollution into rivers and streams. These regu- 

 lations indirectly benefit shad populations by 

 improving the water quality in spawning and 

 nursery areas. 



The Interstate Commission on the Delaware 

 River Basin (INCODEL) was established in 

 1936 by the States of New York, New Jersey, 

 Delaware, and Pennsylvania to formulate and 

 administer a program for utilizing the waters 

 of the Delaware River Basin. This organization 

 has sponsored many conservation develop- 

 ments including a stream-pollution control 

 program. For nnany years the Philadelphia- 

 Cannden area of the Delaware River has been 

 heavily polluted with industrial waste and 

 domestic sewage. This condition caused the 

 extinction of the Delaware River shad popu- 

 lation (Sykes and Lehman, 1957). Since Sykes 

 and Lehman's study, water quality has inn- 

 proved in the Philadelphia- Camden area ofthe 

 Delaware; yet, the dissolved oxygen ranged 

 fronn 1.5 to 3.5 p. p.m. from May to September 

 in 1959 (written connnnuni cation from Water 

 Department of the City of Philadelphia, dated 

 May 4, 1961). These values are below those 

 tolerable to shad (Tagatz, 1961). Through the 

 efforts of INCODEL, more than 300 municipal 

 and industrial waste-treatment plants were 

 constructed along the river and tributaries 

 between 1946 and 1957. Further pollution 

 abatement is expected, and stocks of anadro- 

 mous fish may eventually increase in the 

 Delaware River. 



ECONOMICS AND MARKETING 



Shad were abundant in colonial times and 

 were a staple food for many years. As the 

 fishery developed^ so many fish were taken 

 each season that they could not all be marketed 

 as food and some were sold for fertilizer. As 

 the human population increased and shipping 

 facilities improved, the demand for shad also 

 increased. 



No fish was more important than the shad to 

 residents ofthe Atlantic seaboard in 1896. The 

 yield was more than 5 million pounds, valued 

 in excess of $1.6 million. In 1908 the shad 

 ranked third in value among the fisheries of 

 the United States and was surpassed only by 



salmon and cod (Bureau ofthe Census, 1911). 

 Shad ranked second in volume, surpassed only 

 by cod. The catch in 1908 was slightly less 

 than 25 million pounds, valued at more than 

 $2 million. Most of the catch was marketed 

 fresh, although a considerable quantity was 

 salted. Since 1908 the production has de- 

 creased, and consequently the value of the 

 fishery has also decreased (table 55). By 1935 

 the species ranked 42nd in volume and 20th in 

 value annong fishery products of the United 

 States; in I960 the fishery ranked 48th in 

 volume and 34th in value (U.S. Fish and Wild- 

 life Service, 1962). 



97 



