30 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



very scarce, and rijte bucks of such infrequent occurrence that it was 

 at all timers dillicult to secure enough milt for i)ur])oses of fertilization. 

 A great many shad moved upward to headwaters, many being seen 

 in the vicinity of Egypt Mills, Pike County, I'a., and in New York State, 

 as much as 300 miles above the ocean, higher than knoMii since the 

 building of the dam at Lackawaxen in the year 1823. The head- 

 waters wer«; made accessible to the spav/ning shad by the construction 

 in 1889 of a tishway at the dam by the Joint action of New York and 

 Pennsylvania. Fishing operations ceased June 3, and the station was 

 closed June (J. 



Battery Islank Station, Maryland (W. in<) C. Ravenel, Superintendent). 



1889-90. 



As in previous years, in addition to the operation of the Commission's 

 station on Battery Island, the canning house of Mr. S. J. Seneca, at 

 Havre de Grace, was rented for the season and equipped with 100 hatch- 

 ing jars of a capacity of 8,000,000 eggs. This auxiliary hatchery being 

 located in the proximity of the railroad station proved a valuable ad- 

 junct to the work of distribution. The collection of spawn began April 

 21 and continued till May 20, 1800, the aggregate number of eggs se- 

 cured by the two establishments being 32,105,000. Of these, 12,037,000 

 were transferred to the cars for hatching en route; from the remainder 

 12,248,000 fry were produced, which were also mainly distributed by 

 the messenger service. To procure the eggs, 60,()0l) fathoms of seine 

 haul and 179,025 fathoms of gill net were attended, the number of seined 

 shad examined being 22,800 and of those from gill nets, 10,700, a total 

 of 3">,500, of which 985 were stripped. 



Early in May continued heavy rains caused muddy water and backed 

 the run of shad down the bay, so that the seine catch was reduced to 

 one- third of that of the previous year and the gill net catch to one half. 

 Of the (Mitire production of eggs, more than three-fourths were obtained 

 ])rior to the freshet period, commencing May 7. The eggs, though 

 scarce, were of unusually good quality and afforded fry of superior vigor. 



1890-91. 



Shad hatching was again conducted both at Battery Island and at 

 the auxiliary hatchery at Havre de Grace. On April 17, 1891, twenty 

 spawn-takers began operations, and from that time until June C) were 

 interrupted by storms but two nights. By the 1st of May 20,370,000 

 eggs had been secured, and by the end of the season a total of C3, 1 1 0,000. 

 Of these, 837,000 were turned over to the Delaware Fish Commission 

 and 7,413,000 to the Fish Commission's cars lor hatching en route to the 

 places of deposit. From the remainder were produced 37,747,000 fry. 

 The eggs obtained on each of nine days were over a million, on twelve 



