KEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. xHx 



Nothing but impassable dams or natural falls prevented tlie fish 

 from making their way to the headwaters of our rivers, and their 



though there can be little doubt of their occurreuce there also. As there is uo market 

 nearrthere is no object in fishing for shad ; but an old fisherman assured mo that he 

 found them abundant there many years ago. 



"The Saint John's fishermen do not use shad-seines, though small seines are employed 

 along the banks of the river and in creeks to take the smaller species of fish. They 

 do not seem to appreciate the superior advantages of the seine, and aver that the swift- 

 ness of' the current prevents its use. This is absurd since the current of the Connecticut 

 and other rivers, where seines are used to advantage, is much greater. As the present 

 system fully supplies, and often gluts, the market there seems no immediate necessity 

 for a change in the method of fishing. 



"The "■'ill-nets in use vary in mesh from three and one-half to four and one-quarter 

 inches. They are about ten feet wide, and several gangs are fastened together so as 

 to stretch nearly across the river, often a mile or more in width. The net is allowed 

 to ' drive ' or drift with the current, entangling in its meshes all the full-grown shad 

 which it meets. 



"The principal fishing-stations are near Mayport, on the bar at the mouth of the river, 

 at Yellow Blufis, and Trout Creek, respectively twelve and fifteen miles above, at Jack- 

 sonville, twenty-five miles from the mouth, and at Pilatka, a still greater distance up 

 the river. Several nets are used .at the head of the river, in Lakes Harney and 

 Monroe and in Salt Lake, to supply the hotels there. The Pilatka fisheries are small 

 and supply the local market. More than thirty nets are used in the neighborhood of 

 Jacksonville, whence the fish are shipped, packed on ice in barrels, to Central Georgia 

 and Florida, to the interior of Sourh Carolina, and to Alabama. Yellow Blufl's is an- 

 other extensive market, and sends its fish to Savannah and the northern markets. The 

 estimated total number of nets on the river is seventy-five. 



"The largest haul of the past season was at Yellow Bluft's, where six hundred were taken 

 from a single net ; at Jacksonvile the largest haul was three hundred and twenty. 

 "The average price at the fisheries during the past season was 9A cents each. 

 "The hickory-shad (Fomolohm mediocns) usually makes its appearance in the Saint 

 John's the first or second week in November ; and as early as the 20tlL the first shad ap- 

 pear. The shad-fijshing begins about the first week in December, and is at its best 

 about the 1st of January. The season ends about the middle of April. At the time of 

 my arrival, April 12, the last shad were in the markets. The herring (Pomolohus 

 pseudo-hareiujus) accompanies the shad in great numbers, but is not caught much after 

 the 1st of March. Two herrings or two hickory-shad count in the market for one 

 ' white slmd.' The dates given above are only approximate, taken from the memory 

 of the fishermen and dealers : but as the testimony of the various persons interviewed 

 agrees tolerably well, I believe them to be nearly correct. 



"At the time of my visit the shad seemed to be in fall spawning 'condition and were 

 said to be very plentiful in the lakes of Central Florida, where the fishermen believe 

 that most of them deposit their ova. At the time of their first appearance, the ova- 

 ries and spermaries are said to be barely distinguishable. 



G. BROWN GOODE. 



According to Professor Wyman the young shad, even as early as on the 1st of May, are 

 met with in great numbers returning to the ocean and measuring three or four inches 

 in length. 



"The shad-season on the Saint John's, according to Mr. C. L. Robinson, of Jackson- 

 ville, is from the 1st of December to about the 8th of April. 



" The first fishing done here for shad especially was by Captain Waterhouse, of Con- 

 necticut, two years before the war. The first year there were three persons engaged 

 in the businsss as proprietors, working eight men and four nets. The next year there 

 S. Mis. 74 IV 



