€22 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [4J 



wouldn't dispose of tliem, and they were actually hauled on Boon's farm, 

 for manure. 



At Hunlock's fishery the annual catch must have been above ten 

 thousand. At the Dutch fishery in one night thirty-eight hundred were 

 taken. At the Fish Island fishery, at a single haul, nearly ten thousand 

 shad were taken. Mr. Jenkins recollects of seeing a haul at Monocacy 

 Island— just before the dam was put in — of twenty-eight hundred. At 

 ScovePs Island the catch was from twenty to sixty per night; at Falling 

 Spring fifty to three hundred per night ; at Taylor's Island from two 

 hundred to four hundred per night. At Wyalusing the aunual catch 

 was between two and three thousand, and at Sanding Stone between 

 three and four thousand. The daily catch at the Terrytowu fishery was 

 about one hundred and fifty. Major Fassett says that at the Ster- 

 ling Island fishery " over two thousand were caught in one day in five 

 hauls." 



It is a plain deduction from the above facts that the fisheries down 

 the river were much more valuable than those above. Above Monocacy 

 we hear of no catch over two thousand, while below that point they 

 were much larger ; and while from three to four hundred dollars seems 

 to be the general annual value above, we find the fishery at Hunlock's, 

 12 miles below, was worth from a thousand to twelve hundred per an- 

 num. The shad farther up the river appear to have decreased in num- 

 bers, yet to have increased in size, and that brings us to the next head. 



Size. — The opinion seems to be general that the great size attained 

 by the Susquehanna shad was attributed to the long run np the fresh 

 water stream (carrying the idea of the survival of the fittest). That they 

 were of great size is beyond doubt ; nearly every one who recollects them 

 insists on putting their weight at almost double that of the average 

 Belaware shad of to-day. 



Mr. Van Kirk gives as the weight of the shad caught at the fisheries 

 in Northumberland and Montour Counties as from three to nine pounds. 

 Mr. Fowler says he has assisted in catching thousands weighing eight 

 and nine pounds at the fisheries in Columbia County. Mr. Harvey, 

 speaking of the Luzerne County shad, says : " Some used to weigh eight 

 or nine pounds, and I saw one weighed, on a wager, which turned the 

 scales at thirteen pounds !" Major Fassett, speaking of those caught 

 in Wyoming County, says : " The average weight was eight pounds, 

 the largest twelve pounds." Dr. Hortou says of the shad caught in 

 Bradford County, that he has seen them weighing nine pounds ; ordi 

 narily the weight was from four to seven pounds. 



Price. — The price of the shad varied, according to their size, from 

 4d. to 25 cents, depending of course upon their scarcity or abundance, 

 and as some of our correspondents remember the price in years when 

 it was high, and others in those when there was a great plenty of fish, 

 there arises what appear to be conflicting statements in their letters. 



At the town meeting held at Wilkes Barre, April 21, 1778, prices 



