l80 THE OYSTER. 



were caught altogether in 1880, and yet the shad fish- 

 eries are now increasing in value fi-om year to year, 

 and this change has been brought about, not by the 

 enactment of new laws to restrict the fishery, but by 

 the production of more fishes. 



In 1880 the U. S. Fish Commission began, sys- 

 tematically and upon a large scale, the work of collect- 

 ing the eggs from the bodies of the shad which were 

 captured for the market, in the nets of the fishermen. 

 These eggs were artificially fertilized and the young 

 were kept for a short time in hatching jars, and the 

 waste of eggs was thus prevented. This work has 

 been prosecuted steadily ever since, and the results, up 

 to the end of the season of 1 888, are given in the follow- 

 ing table : 



TOTAL NUMBER OF SHAD TAKEN EACH YEAR. 



In Salt and Percentage of in- 



Brackish Water. In Rivers. Total. crease over 1880. 



1880 2,549,544 1,591,424 4,140,968 



1885 3,267,497 1,906,434 5,172,931 25 per cent. 



1886 3,098,768 2,485,000 5,584,368 34 " 



1887 3,813,744 2,901,661 6,715,405 62 " 



1888 5,010,101 2,650,373 7,660,474 85 4f 



The money value to the fishermen of the excess in 

 1888 over the total catch of 1880 was more than 

 ;^700,ooo. I have no record for 1889 or 1890, but 

 last year, 1890, the fisheries were more profitable than 

 they have been for many years, and our markets were 

 stocked with an abundance of fine shad, which were 

 sold at prices which ten years ago would not have been 

 thought possible. The percentage of increase in 1889 



