REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 11 



the aggreiyate actually canglit every year was far greater than at present. 

 Seines and scoop-nets being* then the only apparatus used, they were, of 

 course, by no means a match for the wholesale devices of seines miles 

 in length, of wire gratings cutting off entirely the upward movement 

 of fish, of slides, &c. 



Little by little, impassable dams were erected at different points along 

 our rivers and streams, and this was probably the first thing to check 

 the natural increase of the shad; access to suitable spawning-grouuds 

 being au absolute necessity to the function of reproduction. In addi- 

 tion to this, the growth of cities and towns necessitated a larger supply to 

 meet the demand, and more extensive apparatus was called into play, 

 which not only captured a large proportion of each year's supply, but 

 prevented the spawning of the remainder. 



We may safely assume that to the exclusion of the fish from their 

 breeding-places, or to their disturbance before reaching them, so as to 

 prevent the discharge of their proper function in this respect, we owe the 

 great decrease, and, indeed, the practical extermination in many locali- 

 ties, of this valuable fish. It is, therefore, sufdcieutly evident that 

 whatever steps be taken toward the introduction or restoration of shad 

 to our waters, this must be accompanied by appropriate legislation, 

 which shall secure their freedom of access to the upper waters of the 

 streams, and shall prevent the use of nets through the season continu- 

 ously so as to allow none to escape. 



Next to an actually unsurmountable dam, the most pernicious engine is 

 that employed in some of the rivers in the South, consisting of a grating 

 or net- work of wire, stretched from bank to bank, and forming an abso- 

 lutely impassable barrier to the upward movement of the fish. They 

 are, of course, arrested at this point, and while making fruitless efforts 

 to ascend are captured by other nets set beiow. 



Where the streams thus treated run partly in one State and partly in 

 another, so that shad introduced by one State might be caught in 

 another, the legislativ^e interposition of the General Government v»'ould 

 seem to be recpiired. 



Whether the causes herein suggested be actually those which have 

 mainly affected the present reduction in numbers, there can be no ques- 

 tion as to the fact of such decrease. During the spring of 1873, de- 

 sirous of knowing exactly the basis upon which efibrts might be made for 

 the restoration of shad to the southern waters, and further transfer to 

 western streams, I dispatched Dr. H. C. Yarrow on a tour of inquiry 

 through the South, and liis report is appended hereto, (page 390.) 



The decrease proved indeed to be still greater than had been antici- 

 pated, and amounted to such a degree that on subsequently sending Mr. 

 Seth Green and his parties to the Savannah River to prosecute their 

 labors of shad-hatching, it was found impossible to procure enough 

 spawning fish at Augusta, formerly the seat of a noted fishery, to carry 

 on the work. 



