THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 183 

run, after that their number rapidly diminishes. In taking these fishes 
two kinds of seines are used, the sweeping seines and the gilling nets. 
As the fish swim in deep water or channels, both of these kinds of seines 
are therein cast. The shore seines sweep the channel opposite a given 
length of shore, and are drawn to the shore by strong lines varying in 
length according to the length of seine and the distance over which it 
is to be drawn. 
The space over and through which these seines sweep is, in legal 
parlance, a pool or fishway. In the compact of 1783, between Pennsy]l- 
vania and New Jersey, they are the fisheries alluded to as being annexed 
to the shores, and to be guarded and regulated by suitable legislation. 
They have, from a very early period in our colonial history, been recog- 
nized as vested rights, and as such subject to be conveyed with, or 
apart from, the adjacent lands. They are also taxed as real estate. 
The great bulk of shad caught in the tidal portion of the river and the 
bay are taken to Philadelphia. As a matter of fact, Pennsylvania is 
more deeply interested in the shad fisheries than is New Jersey. Besides 
being the recipient of most of the shad taken, a great number of her 
citizens are engaged in drift-net fishing, and with one or two exceptions 
all the shore fisheries below Trenton, both on her shores as well as those 
annexed to the New Jersey shore, are fished by Pennsylvanians. 
Mutually interested, the legislation for the protection of fhe fisheries 
has, by long-established usage, been concurrent or coincident on the 
part of the two states, and the State of Delaware within the last few 
years has been in accord. 
As a matter of course, the catch of shad in the Delaware river varies 
very considerably from year to year, and it may be considered un- 
fortunate that full and accurate statistics for a series of years are want- 
ing, save in the case of one fishery belonging to the Howell family, of 
Woodbury, New Jersey. This fishery it is said has been in the posses- 
sion of one family since prior to 1700 and a careful record of each haul 
of the seine has been kept. From this record it would appear that until 
the introduction of the gill-net (1820-25) the catch averaged about 
13C,000 per annum. 
In speaking of the product of this fishery, the late Dr. Slack, in a re- 
port made in 1873, says: 
“Not to enter into detailed statements, but dividing the period be- 
tween 1818 and 1873 into four cycles, each of which may be taken as 
representative of the intervening period, we have, 
Awerare calch per SeasonyelolS) tOplS22). cays) sisuee es ca sees @ 131,000 
Average ecatch) perseasonysls45toule40. Sap ws. sn 66, 890 
Average catch per season, 1866 to 1869,, ...........:. 60,739 
Average catch per season, 1870 to 1873, lessthan. .....,.. 25,000 
“The season of 1873 did not pay expenses. But not only have these 
fishes decreased in numbers but also in size. In 1843 shad of seven and 
eight pound weight were by no means uncommon, and the average run 
