REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CXLV 



Shad are numerous in most of the rivers and bays on the coast of 

 WashingtoQ. Many have been taken in Chehalis River, in tributaries 

 of Willapa Bay, and in Grays Harbor. Mr. A. B. Alexander reports 

 that shad have made their appearance in considerable numbers in the 

 vicinity of Point Eoberts. At almost every lift of the salmon traps 

 during the summer of 1896 from 30 to 40 shad were taken. One trap 

 lifted in Mr. Alexander's presence in July contained 55; their aver- 

 age size was about 3i pounds, but several weighed fully 5 pounds 

 apiece. There is little or no demand for them, and those caught are 

 returned to the water. At the x)resent rate of increase it will be only a 

 short time wheu the waters of Puget Sound will teem with this fish. 



In July, 1887, Oapt. D. Markham, of Ilwaco, Wash., while experi- 

 menting with salmon traps just below the mouth of the Stikiue River, 

 Alaska, caught a dozen shad. 



Commercial value of shad. — The prices received for shad by the Cali- 

 fornia fishermen in 1895 and 1896 rarely reached 5 cents a pound, and 

 were usually much lower. In April, 1896, many hundred pounds con- 

 signed to the San Francisco market brought only 1% cent or 1 cent a 

 pound, and even these prices were maintained only by restricting the 

 catch. In Monterey Bay about 75 per cent of the catch goes to San 

 Francisco. The fish sold locally bring the fishermen 3 to 6 cents a pound, 

 but sometimes the prices fall very low, and a box of 100 or 125 pounds 

 of shad will often yield only $1. At Sacramento there is little sale for 

 shad. They bring the fishermen only 2 to 2^ cents a pound at the 

 height of the season, and retail for 4 or 5 cents a pound. 



The quantity of shad handled by the San Francisco dealers in 1894 

 was much less than in 1893. The receipts in 1895 were but little more 

 than half those in 1894, but 1896 showed a large gain over both 1894 

 and 1895. Mr. John P. Babcock, the chief de]>uty of the California 

 Fish Commission, thinks that the decline noted between 1893 and 1895 

 was more apparent than real, owing to the fact that in recent years the 

 practice has been growing among dealers of buying directly from the 

 fishermen at the city wharves, of which receipts no full account is kept. 



The following statement, taken from the books of the San Francisco 

 dealers who purchased directly from the fishermen, shows by months 

 the quantities of shad handled in 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1896: 



Months. 



Pound*. 



6,588 



19, 185 



19, 546 



32, 389 



80, 557 



36, 184 



3,319 



2,796 



698 



53, 652 



96, 340 



77, 882 



Total 429,136 



January . • . 

 February . . 



March 



April 



M^y 



June 



July 



August 



September . 



October 



November . 

 December.. 



1893. 



1894. 



Pounds. 



41, 266 



11, 767 



17,747 



39,115 



57, 823 



22, 027 



7,941 



2, 029 



475 



24, 229 



38, 110 



8,278 



270, 807 



1895. 



Pounds. 



369 



2,106 



14, 257 



23, 960 



36, 729 



25, 787 



3,213 



805 



3,317 



5,788 



23, 534 



6,534 



146, 399 



1896. 



Pounds. 



4,600 



6,000 



14, 353 



C5, 625 



95, 392 



38, 620 



18, 151 



3,527 



9,264 



5,383 



24, 926 



20. 404 



306, 245 



F R 97- 



-X 



