102 Wkilebait Results; the Shads. 



But the net result of the whole data and argument is that 

 brood fish other than sprats and herrings are a mere bagatelle 

 of the " baiter's " destruction. Then arises the knotty question : 

 should whitebaiting be entirely abolished, or how far its 

 restriction ? Mark with the idea that the fishermen and the 

 fisheries interests are to be benefited in the future ? This is 

 attempted to be tentatively replied to later on under sub- 

 heading Whitebait Fishery. 



(3 and 4.) The SHADS. These are the TWAITE SHAD (Clupea 

 finta), and the ALLICE SHAD (C. alosa). The Allice Shad of 

 a certainty inhabits the Thames {see Yarreli) ; but we have 

 not seen it among those taken in the lower reaches. In 

 continental rivers it spawns far higher up stream than does 

 the Twaite, which seems more estuarine in habit. It appears 

 in Boys' "Fishes of Sandwich" (op. cit.). 



Dr. Laver records the Twaite Shad as occasionally common 

 in the Colne, many in August, 1886, and one the same year, 

 on November 29th, at East Bridge, Colchester. Doubt- 

 less they enter all the estuaries of our Sea Fisheries 

 district. At one time the Upper Thames was noted for its shad 

 fisheries ; shad then being much in vogue as a cheap article of 

 diet. In this respect there is a great change in the taste of the 

 public ; nor is shadding now so hedged in by rule as the Bye 

 Law of 1697 enunciated.* They are still as abundant as ever 

 though they don't figure conspicuously in prices current at 

 Billingsgate. 



The longest we have seen at Leigh measured 12. 13^r, J4|, 

 and 15 J inches in extreme length, with depth of over 3 inches. 

 These were all females. The smallest have been between 2 to 

 3 inches. As the breeding females are most often caught we 



* " That all persons using the Art, Mistery, or Craft of a Fisherman, that use to 

 tnke Shadds, in Shadding-time, shall observe and keep their true Orders, of Shooting 

 a Droves-length off from One Another : And that none of the said Shudder* shall go 

 forth to Fish, within the Bounds and Limits aforesaid, until he or they, shall have 

 received Leave and License, in such manner as is herein aft?r particularly mentioned 

 and provided for, upon forfeiture of Twenty Shillings for every such Offence." 



