474 



TJ. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



It appears to be the concensus of opinion that abnormally high or 

 low temperatures affect the runs of fish. If the temperatures are 

 high, the fish tend to leave the main channels and scatter over the 

 shallov>'-water areas of the bay, where they are more easily taken by 

 the traps, thus reducing the numbers that ultimately reach the spawn- 

 ing areas. If the temperatures are low, the fish tend to follow the 

 deeper channels, and thus a larger number reach the spawning areas 

 and the take of eggs is correspondingly larger. 



Egg collections at other points wliere artificial propagation has been 

 undertaken gradually dropped from large numbers (200,000,000 repre- 

 senting the full capacity oi the hatchery for several seasons on the 

 Susquehanna River) to a point where hatchery operations were no 

 longer practicable. The causes effecting this condition are, of course, 

 more or less conjectural, but it is noteworthy that the shad fishery 

 of the Potomac River has had, in addition to the benefits of artifical 

 propagation, some protection from the excessive fishing to which 

 other areas have been subjected, by the enforcement of the regulatory 

 measures of the War Department maintaining lanes unobstructed by 

 fishing apparatus for purposes of navigation. 



ALBEMARLE SOUND 



The hatchery on Albemarle Sound was permanently located in 

 1900 near the town of Eden ton, adjacent to what was one of the most 

 important shad-fishing grounds in the country. This region for a 

 number of years yielded annually upward of 8,500,000 pounds of 

 shad, valued at about $350,000, and contributed the principal part 

 of the shad of the northern and eastern markets in winter and early 

 spring. The egg collections at this station are indicated in the follow- 

 ing table: 



PACIFIC COAST 



With the appearance of the shad as an important feature of the 

 commercial fisneries of the Pacific coast, the desirability of artificial 

 propagation was recognized, and as early as 1906 shad culture was 

 uncfertaken at points on the Willamette River, Oreg. The work was 

 continued on this river, principally at Willamette F'alls and St. Helens, 



