REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS xxv 



The shad which pass up the river in tlie spring, are spawning fish, of large size, 

 Leiavy with roe, and very tliin. As a matter of course, these fish have hut little 

 flavour as compared with the fat and luscious sea shad, taken in the autumn, and 

 ■ire scarcely worth salting. It is much to be regretted that the spring shhd should 

 be caught at all, they are of little value when taken, and their capture, by destroy- 

 ing the breeding fish, tends greatly to the injury of the valuable shad fishery, of the 

 bay, which ought to be most carefully preserved and protected. 



From the Fishing Gazette of June, 1906, we take the following . — '' After spawn- 

 ing the fish hurry back to the ocean in a lean and emaciated state. They are at this 

 time useless to the fishermen, being known as ' racers,' ' down-runners ' and ' spent 

 iish.' " 



Secondli/. — Summer shad, called by some fishermen, autumn shad, which occur 

 i;enerally distributed over the bay from the end of June to September, have been 

 •)f commercial importance in years gone by. They are never found in fresh water, 

 but frequent the open water of the bay. especially the muddy areas over the vast 

 I'.ats in the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy and Chignecto bay. The bay fishing 

 is exclusively for these summer shad, and it is of this fishing Mr. Geo. Lewis, Bass 

 river, said: "Drift nets were used in the latter part of June — hardly ever was a 

 spawn shad taken; we quit early in August and we never saw 'racers' or come- 

 back shad." 



An important witness in his evidence spoke of the summer shad fishery as 

 I'oUows : — 



When he was fifteen years of age he lived in a district where the shad fishery 

 was of very great importance, and most of the resident people took part in the taking 

 of shad each summer. Roe shad appeared never to be taken, indeed he never knew 

 a roe shad until he got it in New York served up at the hotels. Shad full of roe were 

 really unknown to the bay fishermen along the Colchester county shore. 



The weight of this fish ranges for 2J to 5 lbs., and they are very plump, fat 

 ;nd in good condition. The absence of spawn clearly shows, in our opinion, that 

 they are the same shad as the large spring shad, h\iT are not full-grown or matured 

 and have not yet spawned. As Mr. McLellan, K.C., Truro, said, " Wlien I used to 

 ^ee bay shad long ago we never saw roe in them, the bay shad being caught in July. 

 These large spawn shad do not differ, as far as I could see, from the bay shad, except 

 in size." 



Dr. Perley long ago pointed out the superior quality of the sea shad. 



He says : " Of the sea shad, none are so fine as those taken at the head of the 

 Bay of Fundy, in the muddy waters of which they attain the highest perfection, 

 owing to the great abundance there of their favourite food, the shad-worm and the 

 .-lirimp." 



While Mr. Herbert (Frank Forrester) in his " Fish and Fishing,'' speaking of 

 the Shad, says: — ''This delicious and well-known fish, which is by many esteemed 

 the queen of all fishes on the table," and adds. " the flesh of the shad is perhaps the 

 most delicate of any existing fish." 



The sea or.sunnner shad is essentially a poor-man's fish, as it can be cooked in 

 different ways, not requiring any dressing to make it palatable. How highly shad, 

 when taken in the sea, are esteemed, may be judged from the expression of opinion 



