CULTURE OF THE SHAD. 175 



" No such information has been lodged, and I have not 

 been able to ascertain to what extent the downward 

 passage of the spawn has been interrupted in the localities 

 spoken of. The main dams in the liver are scarcely a 

 greater obstruction to the passage of shad than these fish- 

 traps they catch the spawn (fry) in their meshes, and 

 there the little creatures die by the thousand. 



"It is in the hands of the people to remedy this crying 

 evil. The laws against the erection of such structures are 

 sufficiently stringent to put a stop to them altogether; but 

 unless those interested will lodge information, the system 

 will continue, and although the most efficient weirs (fish- 

 . ways) shall be made in the large dams for the passage of 

 fish up the stream, unless the way for the spawn (fry) to 

 get down be left open, no increase in the catch from year 

 to year can be expected. 



" There is no state, county, or township officer whose 

 business it is specially to watch this infraction of the law, 

 and I would suggest that it be made the duty of some 

 such official in the counties bordering upon the river to 

 have an eye upon it notifying all persons against putt : ng 

 up such structures, and that if they should still persist in 

 doing so they will be proceeded against in the most sum- 

 mary manner. 



" A little active interest taken by the public in this 

 regard is all that is necessary, and it cannot be many years 

 until the shad shall be fully reinstated in the Susqueharma 

 and its tributaries for hundreds of miles." 



