﻿144 
  REPORT 
  OP 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  is 
  greatly 
  reduced 
  by 
  local 
  conditions. 
  Even 
  when 
  other 
  conditions 
  

   are 
  satisfactory^ 
  if 
  neither 
  higli 
  nor 
  low 
  water 
  occurs 
  about 
  sunset 
  but 
  

   few 
  ripe 
  fish 
  are 
  caught. 
  The 
  large 
  seines 
  land 
  toward 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  the 
  

   ebb 
  tide, 
  and 
  gill 
  net 
  fishermen 
  can 
  do 
  nothing 
  except 
  on 
  the 
  change 
  of 
  

   the 
  tide 
  — 
  on 
  slack 
  water. 
  The 
  fish 
  spawn 
  at 
  a 
  certain 
  time 
  of 
  day, 
  

   and 
  when 
  taken 
  at 
  other 
  hours 
  are 
  not 
  in 
  spawning 
  condition. 
  Thun- 
  

   derstorms 
  sometimes 
  occur 
  for 
  days 
  in 
  succession 
  about 
  sunset, 
  the 
  

   very 
  hour 
  when 
  most 
  disastrous. 
  

  

  A 
  scarcity 
  of 
  male 
  fish 
  toward 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  season 
  often 
  cuts 
  short 
  

   operations 
  when 
  eggs 
  are 
  plentiful. 
  Unsuccessful 
  attempts 
  have 
  

   been 
  made 
  to 
  capture 
  the 
  males 
  at 
  such 
  times 
  by 
  using 
  gill 
  nets 
  with 
  

   meshes 
  smaller 
  than 
  those 
  in 
  th&nets 
  of 
  market 
  fishermen. 
  Attempts 
  

   have 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  pen 
  the 
  adults, 
  but 
  without 
  success, 
  as 
  the 
  fish 
  

   become 
  diseased 
  and 
  their 
  eggs 
  sijoil 
  within 
  them. 
  In 
  gill 
  nets 
  the 
  

   adult 
  is 
  entangled 
  in 
  the 
  mesh 
  and 
  can 
  not 
  escape 
  by 
  struggling, 
  and 
  

   it 
  therefore 
  remains 
  comparatively 
  quiet. 
  

  

  Tlie 
  quality 
  of 
  shad 
  eggs 
  is 
  generally 
  imjiaired 
  where 
  the 
  fish 
  are 
  

   held 
  for 
  an 
  hour 
  or 
  more 
  in 
  trap 
  nets 
  or 
  seines. 
  The 
  eggs 
  from 
  fish 
  

   taken 
  in 
  large 
  seines 
  are 
  usually 
  of 
  bad 
  quality, 
  but 
  those 
  from 
  short 
  

   seines, 
  which 
  are 
  landed 
  quickly 
  after 
  the 
  fish 
  have 
  been 
  surrounded, 
  

   are 
  usually 
  good 
  ; 
  and 
  those 
  from 
  trap 
  nets, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  fish 
  have 
  been 
  

   held 
  for 
  some 
  hours, 
  are 
  valueless. 
  Eggs 
  are 
  rarely 
  susceptible 
  to 
  fer- 
  

   tilization 
  longer 
  than 
  20 
  minutes 
  after 
  the 
  fish 
  are 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  water, 
  

   though 
  there 
  are 
  exceptions 
  to 
  this 
  rule. 
  On 
  May 
  23, 
  1895, 
  Potomac 
  

   shad 
  were 
  stripped 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  about 
  1^ 
  hours; 
  

   they 
  were 
  kept 
  separate, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  48 
  hours 
  produced 
  100,000 
  

   eggs, 
  which 
  yielded 
  98,000 
  fry. 
  

  

  The 
  shad 
  dies 
  very 
  quickly 
  after 
  capture 
  and 
  is 
  immediately 
  respon- 
  

   sive 
  to 
  electrical 
  storms, 
  the 
  catch 
  of 
  seines 
  and 
  nets 
  of 
  all 
  kinds 
  falling 
  

   oft" 
  promptly 
  when 
  a 
  thunderstorm 
  develops. 
  Even 
  in 
  seines 
  already 
  

   laid 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  water, 
  with 
  lead 
  line 
  on 
  the 
  bottom, 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  appre- 
  

   ciable 
  decrease 
  in 
  such 
  event. 
  On 
  the 
  Delaware 
  Eiver, 
  May 
  29, 
  1887, 
  

   nearly 
  50 
  i3er 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  shad 
  eggsi 
  on 
  board 
  the 
  steamer 
  Fish 
  Hawk 
  

   perished 
  during 
  an 
  electrical 
  storm 
  which 
  continued 
  from 
  6 
  p. 
  m. 
  to 
  

   midnight. 
  There 
  were 
  4,481,000 
  eggs 
  with 
  embryos 
  well 
  formed, 
  and 
  

   without 
  perceptible 
  change 
  in 
  water 
  temperature 
  1,918,000 
  were 
  killed, 
  

   many 
  turning 
  white 
  by 
  8 
  p. 
  m. 
  

  

  Heavy 
  freshets 
  cause 
  an 
  abrupt 
  suspension 
  of 
  fishing, 
  but 
  the 
  effect 
  

   of 
  a 
  single 
  freshet 
  is 
  usually 
  temporary. 
  The 
  shad 
  which 
  have 
  gone 
  

   above 
  are 
  backed 
  down 
  before 
  the 
  muddy 
  water, 
  but 
  reappear 
  upon 
  its 
  

   outward 
  i^assage. 
  An 
  occurrence 
  of 
  this 
  kind 
  will 
  effect 
  a 
  great 
  

   increase 
  in 
  egg 
  receipts 
  if 
  the 
  water 
  temperature 
  before 
  muddy 
  water 
  

   comes 
  is 
  suitable. 
  The 
  shad 
  that 
  were 
  scattered 
  above 
  being 
  thrown 
  

   back 
  in 
  a 
  body, 
  reascend 
  in 
  a 
  body. 
  

  

  A 
  season 
  of 
  clear 
  water 
  is 
  undesirable 
  both 
  for 
  fishermen 
  and 
  hatching 
  

   work, 
  as 
  the 
  fish 
  see 
  the 
  nets 
  and 
  avoid 
  them, 
  gill 
  nets 
  being 
  put 
  out 
  

   only 
  on 
  the 
  night 
  tide 
  and 
  half 
  the 
  fishing 
  being 
  thus 
  lost. 
  The 
  water 
  

  

  