REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. Ivii 



July to September, after wbicli the fishermen believe that thej^ migrate 

 to the Kistua. lu the Hoogli they coutinoe ascendiug- throughout the 

 southwest monsoou, and some are found full of roe in September. They 

 occur at Mandalay in Upper Burmah at the end of the year. In Siud 

 they about February and. descend about the end of September, after 

 which none are met with. They are found in the rivers, usually during 

 Che periods of the flood, when their instincts or traditions inform them 

 that the shallows are covered with water, so that they can proceed 

 upward to their destination. In the Irawaddy they push on as far as 

 Upper Burmah,* 



Shad, in their ascent of the Mississippi, would have no falls and no 

 current of inconvenient strength to overcome, and it would seem no 

 more difficult for them to swim up the river than to sweep along in 

 schools from one part of the coast to the othei\ Although they do not 

 feed in fresh water, the privation of food for several months would be 

 no serious inconvenience, as fish are frequently longer than that with- 

 out sustenance. Starting, as they would, fall of fat, the moderate 

 expenditure required for this period of t|ine would still leave enough to 

 supply the substance for the ripening of the eggs and of the milt. For 

 these reasons I am entirely satisfied, as are most persons who have 

 given attention to the subject, that shad introduced into the upper waters 

 of the Mississippi may be taken there again in the same vicinity as mature 

 fish; provided, of course, that they are not destroyed, intercepted. 

 And even should the entire range of the Mississippi and its main trib- 

 utaries be too much for them, the uncertainty diminishes as we reduce 

 the distance from the Gulf, and we may consider success assured in the 

 shorter rivers, emptying directly into the Gulf and in the lower waters 

 of the Mississippi and Missouri, at least from the mcflith to the Ohio. 



One great argument in favor of the attempt to introduce the shad as 

 well as species of salmon into the Mississippi Eiver and its main tribu- 

 taries, is the general absence of dams as compared with the waters of 

 the Atlantic coast. There is, even now, nothing to prevent fish from 

 running up to a great distance, even to places where excellent opportu- 

 nities for spawning can be had. 



The question has been asked whether, admitting that the shad and 

 salmon can live and propagate in the waters of the Mississippi Valley, 

 they will not find the Gulf of Mexico too shallow and hot for them. To 

 this we have the satisfactory reply that the recent researches of the 

 Coast Survey show, directly <mtside of the mouth of the Mississippi, an 

 immense area where the depths range from 1,200 to G,000 feet. •' The 

 temperature below 600 feet ranges from 35° to 29°, even in summer, due 

 probably to the intrusion of the cold water from the Antarctic region 

 in passing along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. 



The question of food, of course, does not come into account, as we 

 have already explained that the shad does not feed in the fresh water ; 



* Fresh-Water Fisheries of ludia and Burmah, by Dr. Day, 22. 



