Description of Transportation and Release of Shad 



Adult shad were obtained from a pound net located at the mouth 

 of the river and about 300 yards offshore near Perryville, Maryland (figo 1), 

 The shad were usually taken from the pound net at sunrise and placed in a 

 live car« The live car was slowly towed to shore where the tank trucks were 

 waiting. Each truck held four 130-gallon tanks which were filled with water 

 taken from the bay. Each tank had a circula ting system which aerated the 

 water. Fish were taken from the live car to the truck in tubs| about 5 shad 

 could be carried in a tub. The day's catch was divided among the available 

 trucks , 



At no time were nore than 12 shad carried in each 130-gallon tank. 

 Generally only 10 shad were placed in a tank, allowing 13 gallons of water 

 for each fish. The lengths of the shad ranged from 17 to 21 inches, and 

 their weights from 2 to U pounds. The inside dimensions of each tank were 

 30 X 30 X 31; inches. 



When a truck was loaded, it left immediately for its destination, 

 for time appeared to be most important in preventing mortality. There were 

 217 shad planted at Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania (fig, 1), 2? miles from 

 Perryville, Maryland, where the fish were loaded; 96? shad were planted at 

 Columbia, Pennsylvania (fig. 1), 58 miles from Perryville, Upon arrival at 

 the stocking point the shad were removed from the tanks individually, and 

 all but 19 were tagged with Petersen disc tags placed just below the dorsal 

 fin, and released. 



In addition to the shad hauled, 500 were tagged in the region of 

 Havre de Grace, Maryland, at the head of Chesapeake Bay. This latter 

 group served as the control lot with which to compare survival of the shad 

 transported above the dams. 



Effect of Hauling on Survival 



Originally this e^^eriment called for 2,000 tagged shad to be 

 placed above Safe Harbor Dam, 500 above Holtwood Dam, and 500 above Cono- 

 wingo Dam, and 1,000 to be tagged and returned to the region of the Susque- 

 hanna Flats or the head of the bay. Heavy rainfall over the Susquehanna 

 River watershed during the spring of 19^2 greatly hampered operations. The 

 pound net from which the shad were obtained could be fished only at times 

 of normal flow, and was removed when the river was in flood stage. As a 

 result there was only about 1 month of effective pound-net fishing. The 

 experiment came to an abrupt halt on May 26, when a heavy rain returned the 

 river to flood stage and the net was removed for the season. 



Tables 1 and 2 contain the complete daily record of all hauls 

 made. Shad hauled to Peach Bottom survived much better than those hauled 

 31 miles further to Columbia. From table 1 it will be noted that 89 per- 

 cent of the shad hauled to Peach Bottom survived the journey. Breaking 



