xlviii REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND, FISHERIES. 

 D — FISHES ESPECIALLY "SVORTHY OF CULTIVATION. 



l.—The shad. 



Among these fishes, the American shad, Alosa sapidissima may- 

 be considered as holding the chief place, occupying in its distribu- 

 tion as it does the entire eastern border of the United States from the 

 Saint John's River in Florida to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and even 

 occurring in limited nnmbers in the waters emptying into the Gulf of 

 Mexico. Its abnndance in the early history of the country was such 

 as to excite the unbounded astonishment of those who beheld it for the 

 first time. With scarcely an exception, every river on the Atlantic 

 coast within the limits mentioned was invaded in the spring by im- 

 mense schools, which in their upward course furnished an ample sup- 

 ply of the best food, first to the aboriginal inhabitants, and then to 

 their European supplanters and their descendants. 



At one time it was imagined that the whole body of American shad, 

 having wintered in the South, started northward with the new year, 

 sending oat detachments as they proceeded along the coast, first into 

 one river and then into the next, until the last of the immense school 

 made their way into the Saint Lawrence River. This idea, which 

 attached equally to many other species of fish, is now believed to be 

 in great measure at least incorrect ; and it is thought more reasonable 

 to suppose that the young fish, hatched in any particular stream, go out 

 into the sea, and remain within a moderate distance of the coast until 

 the period again recurs for their u[)ward migration.* It may be how- 

 ever that a coastwise movement takes place to some extent. 



* As a convenient place for tbe puqiose, I introduce here an important contribution 

 to the natural history of the shad, recently received from Mr. G. Brov\-n Goode and Mr. 

 Joseph Shepard : 



"A knowledge of the occurrence of shad in the waters of the Saint John's appears 

 to have been many years before the fishermen make any practical use of their informa- 

 tion. Shad were not taken in quantity for the local markets until 1864 and 1865, 

 though I am informed by Colonel Samniis, of Arlington, one of the oldest settlers of 

 East Florida, that be knew of their capture in small numbers as early as tbe last In- 

 dian war (1839) and has since occasionally seen them. At that time the country was 

 but sparsely settled, and there can have been little encouragement, and indeed little 

 need for the use of seines, the inhabitants easily supplying their wants with the cast-net 

 and tbe line. 



" About 1859 or 1860 Mr. P. Waterhouse, a northern fisherman, introduced gill-nets and 

 took shad in large numbers on the bar at the mouth of the Saint John's ; these he 

 shipped to northern markets, and it is said that he refused to sell a single fish, in Flor- 

 ida, being angry with his neighbors for laughing at his project of catching shad in the 

 Saint John's. 



" All fishing was interrupted by the war, but immediately after its close gill-nets were 

 extensively used and the shad were found to be very abundant. There can be little doubt 

 that the species has inhabited the Saint John's for a great many years ; the common 

 idea that they are of recent introduction arises from the fact that through want of proper 

 fishing they did not find their way to the markets till about ten years ago. The Saint 

 Mary's River is still thought by many people living on its banks to be destitute of shad, 



