REPORT OF THE COilillSSWyERS xxxi 



AVON Rn'ER. 



The run of fish in this river must always have been limited because of the natural 

 obstructions three miles above Windsor. As Inspector Eogers said in his official 

 report, 1S6S, " I conclude that the drift nets in the Avon are as destructive as the 

 dam across the river. These nets are from 150 to 300 fathoms in length, and so 

 effectively close up the river that it is almost impossible for a single fish to escape." 



AN2s\\P0LIS RIVER. 



Important evidence was given on the spawning grounds of the Annapolis river 

 and its tributaries, and of this evidence the following may be here quoted: — 



In the Annapolis river there is a shad spawning ground 2i miles above iliddleton. 

 On ifay 24 I saw a school of spawning shad in a nook where the river used to run, 

 it was five feet deep and very clear with a fine growth of weeds. The bottom was 

 gravel and their backs were out of the water. There must have been four barrels of 

 them. They were so thick they rocked our canoe with their backs. Above that they 

 spawn in the main river, but it is fiUed up with gravel washed out from the bank. 



In 1869, it may be added, shad were reported by the local warden to occur at 

 Palmer's meadow, forty-three miles above Annapolis and twenty-two miles above tide 

 water. 



PETTTCODIAC RIVER. 



As to the occurrence of spawning shad in this river, one witness, Mr. F. L. 

 Dobson, said spawning shad were got at the tail of Holmes mill, on the Petitcodiac 

 river, while Mr. J. A. Steeves, Coverdale, said, " The best idea is to protect the spawn- 

 ing fish above the head of tide. I never knew shad to come here until two or thre*- 

 years ago. It is not more than three or four years ago I heard of them in numbers 

 going up with the tide, and they are caught in greatest numbers four cr fcve mika 

 above Salisbury, near Colliers bridge, where there is a reach, of river, about a mile 

 of clean gravel bottom and no mud, known by the name of Intervale rivfr.'' It niiiy 

 be added that several barrels of shad were shipped from the part of the river referred 

 to in the spring of 1908. Important additional testimony on this point was given 

 by Mr. G. Jones, who said, in reference to the clean spawning grounds mentioned, 

 that ' the water was solid with fish. I have known that shad came there for a loi.g 

 time, but they are less numerous than when I was a boy. About the last of June I 

 have seen vast numbers of young shad." The testimony as to the occurrences of 

 spawning shad in this river appears somewhat conflicting, most of the fishermen 

 inclining to the view that shad did not ascend this river for spawning purposes 

 until recent years, while, on the other hand, there are parties who take the view that 

 shad have always gone up this river but were not observed and were not taken during 

 the fishing operations carried on, which were of a limited character. 



STEWLVCKE RIVER. 



This river, which is a branch of the Shubenacadie river, was, according to the 

 testimony of Fishery Officer McGregor, full of spawning shad fifteen or sixteen 

 years ago, the schools of fish ascending the river early in May and the spawning 

 period extending from about May 10th to the 20th each year. Confirmation of this 

 testimony was afforded by other witnesses, including Mr. D. H. Goodwin, who said 

 that 35 years ago shad were very plentiful in the river — quantities of shad coming 



