THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 185 

every spring. As the canal company’s dam was an obstruction which 
they could not overcome, until the fishways were built, the shad gathered 
at the foot of the dam and remained there, being protected by law 
against bush seines and eel weirs, and as nets cannot be successfully 
used above Milford, there were no means for the people up the valley to 
take the fish except by spearing, in which manner they were captured 
at Lackawaxen, where men and boys collected at night at the bulkheads 
and breakwaters. By throwing strong light on the water by means of 
jacks the fish were plainly brought to view and were speared by the 
hundred. 
The first attempt to hatch shad on an extensive scale on the Delaware 
by the United States Fish Commisson was in the year 1885, when the 
steamer “Fish Hawk” was stationed at Gloucester city, New Jersey, from 
May 23 to June 10, and succeeded in securing about 10,000,000 eggs. 
The steamer “Lookout” made two trips to the Delaware for the purpose 
of collecting shad eggs, most of which were transferred to Battery Sta- 
tion, near Havre de Grace, Maryland. 
The “Fish Hawk” hatched over 8,000,000 and the fry returned to the 
Delaware, nearly all being liberated in tide water. 
In 1886 the “Fish Hawk” was again on the Delaware, in the vicinity of 
Gloucester city, engaged in transporting spawn takers, and in collecting, 
transporting and depositing eggs. 34,454,500 eges were obtained, from 
which 23,196,000 fry were hatched on board, and 21,018,000 deposited in 
the Delaware river. During the season of 1888 the “‘ Fish Hawk” collected 
48,607,000 shad eggs at five of the fisheries operated on the New Jersey 
side of the river below Gloucester city and from gilling nets near by. 
Of the fry hatched 14,840,000 were deposited in the river near Gloucester 
city, and through the Pennsylvania State Fish Commission 16,011,000 
fry were liberated in the numerous pools in the upper stretches of the 
Delaware river. The following statement compiled, by the United States 
Fish Commission, shows the number of shad taken in the Delaware river 
during the years 1885 to 1889, inclusive: 
IRGGe geeyth UeeMew et Nee LaeRe es cco! feb: bie te cbaleRe" togyt has 1, 148,496 
Ther EP OR VRS oh 2k ora ME J re i rea ee 874,017 
ES eM ee Mes eee tae emm, ie vaelt Gs 1a 0d gier. 800, 265 
TSTESa! (NEE Salina tp Pah cathe UL AMA AER. as WRIT tl eA red a 856, 662 
ASST hohe Nee, Berl ER 2 ee a A co Pk ea a 984,941 
The statistics of the production and deposits of shad-fry for the sea- 
sons 1889, 1890 and 1891 in the Delaware river are not yet available for 
publication, but in the year 1890 the upper waters of this river were 
fairly swarming with shad, the like of which had never before been seen 
in the recollection of the people of that section. At Lackawaxen dam 
they were seen by the thousands, and at Milford, where the river is not 
more than four hundred feet wide, fishermen took as many as three 
hundred as a night’s haul, when before fifty was considered a good 
catch. In that section the appearance of shad in such abundance en- 
