SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



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The following summary shows, in coniparjitive form, the original and 

 the present limit of the shad range in 23 of the principal rivers of the 

 Atlantic seaboard : 



Distance 



of sources 



above 



coast 



line. 



Original limit of shad run. 



Locality. 



Distance 

 from 

 coast 

 line. 



Present limit of shad 



Locality. 



Distance 

 from 

 coast 

 line. 



St. Johns 



Altamaha 



Ogee('hee 



Savannah 



Edisto 



Santpo jWateree. 



'''^"^®® \Congaree 



Pee Dee 



Cape Fear 



Neuse 



Pamlico-Tar 



Koauoke 



James 



Rappahannock , 



Potomac 



Susquehanna 



Delaware 



Hudson 



Housatonic 



Connecticut 



Merrimac 



Kennebec 



Penobscot 



Mites 

 375 

 450 

 350 

 425 

 300 

 350 

 410 

 497 

 290 

 340 

 252 

 457 

 420 

 248 

 400 

 617 

 457 

 314 

 202 

 409 

 140 

 155 

 255 



Sources 



Macon 



Ogeeehee Shoals 

 Tallulah Falls . . 



Sources 



Great Falls 



Green River 



Wilkesboro 



Haywood 



.Sources 



Rocky Mount.. . 

 Weldon 



Falrnouth Falls! 



Great Falls 



Binghamton 



Deposit 



Glens Falls 



Falls Village.... 

 Bellows Falls... 

 Winnepesau k ee 

 Carritunk Falls 



Miles. 

 375 

 370 

 200 

 884 

 300 

 272 

 374 

 451 

 210 

 340 

 157 

 249 

 370 

 155 

 190 

 513 

 256 

 209 

 150 

 204 

 125 



Sources 



Hawkinaville 



Milieu . 



Augusta Dam 



Jones Bridge 



Great Falls 



Columbia 



Graasy Lsland 



Smiley Falls 



Fish Dam 



Rocky Mount 



Weldon 



Bosher's Dam 



Falmouth Falls - . . 



Great Falls | 



Clark's Ferry.. 

 Burrows Dam.. 



Troy 



Birmingham ... 

 Windsor Locks 

 Lawrence 



Miles. 

 375 

 300 

 100 

 209 

 281 

 272 

 233 

 242 

 181 

 300 

 157 

 249 

 140 

 155 

 190 

 279 

 196 

 164 

 92 



20 

 44 

 35 



It appears that in 23 of the principal rivers, aggregating 8,113 miles 

 in length from the coast line, shad formerly existed throughout (5,052 

 miles, or 72 per cent of the length, whereas at present they are to be found 

 in only 1,203 miles, a decrease of 1,819 miles. This summary comprises 

 only the priucii)al rivers, and if the minor streams and tributaries were 

 included, the total length from which shad have been excluded would 

 doubtlc-^s appear more than twice as great. In much of that length 

 shad were quite numerous, the catch in many instances exceeding the 

 yield in the part to which the fisheries are now confined. The upper sec- 

 tion of the Pee Dee is supposed to have yielded over 100,000 annually. 

 In James Eiver, according to the late Commissioner McDonald, the 

 annual catch of shad in the 230 miles from which they are now excluded 

 " was at one time far in excess of the now (1880) entire catch for the 

 whole river." The present excluded length of the Susquehanna for- 

 merly yielded several hundred thousand annually. In a report of 

 special commissioners of Massachusetts, appointed in 1865 to investi- 

 gate the fisheries of that State, it was estimated that at the beginning 

 of the i)resent century the annual shad yield in Merrimac Eiver ranged 

 from 500,000 to 1,000,000 in number, whereas none ascend that river at 

 present. 



The limitation in the range of shad in the rivers is the result of sev- 

 eral agencies in addition to the size of the stream, the most important 

 of which are (1) natural falls, (2) insurmountable dams, (3) pollution of 

 the water, (4) agricultural operations, and (5) extensive fisheries. 



