REPORT OF THE COMUISSIOSERS xxxv 



>, rious (liinensioiis. This commercial fishery up the rivers referred to became" quite 

 a considerable industry and its growth may be judged from the figures given by 

 Officer J. TV. Davidson, from the returns of the local officer as given below: — 



When shad fishing was at its best, the number of shad caught in my district was 

 from 3,000 to 5,000 barrels. The following shows the number of barrels of shad taken 

 in my district between the years 1SS9 and 190G. inclusive: — 



1S99 I.IOT barrels. - 



1900 1.303 " 



1901 269 •' 



1902 97 " 



1903 314 " 



1904 38 " 



1905 30 " 



1906 24 « 



With reference to the cause of such a complete failure of the shad fishery, the 

 first and greatest reason is, I believe, the destruction of the mother shad in the rivers 

 when they are ascending to their spawning ground. These shad, which go up our 

 rivers to spawn, furnish the supply for our bay fishery and if the mother shad are 

 destroyed the natural result is that the supply for the bay is cut off. To prove that 

 a great many shad are taken in our rivers I will give the numbers of barrels reported 

 by the overseer to have been taken in the Stewiacke river between the years 1S99 and 

 1906:— 



1899 .500 barrels. 



1900 700 " 



1901 600 " 



1902 176 " 



1903 310 " 



1904 1,000 " 



1905 400 " 



1906 25 " 



The above report would appear to indicate that not only has the taking of these 

 spawn shad cut off the bay supply, but that the destruction of life has been =n great as 

 to have destroyed the mother shad almost entirely.* 



Inspector Kobert Hookin, Pictou. Xova Scotia, has for years urged that effective 

 measures be carried out to save the shad fishery, and in nimierous reports has fully 

 stated his views. For example, so long ago as 1896 (Dept"s. Fishery Report. 1896, 

 Appendix Xo. 3, p. 50) he said of the shad : •' This is peculiarly a Bay of Fundy fishery, 

 only a few barrels are taken in the other waters. They are caught mostly in the drift 

 nets and weirs. The catch, in exces.s of that of last year was 19 per cent and com- 

 pared with other years is as follows : — 



1889 535 barrels. 



1890 750 " 



1891 1.178 " 



1892 1.811 " 



1893 746 " 



1894 981 '■■ 



1895 1.1S5 " 



In the years 1878-79-80, the returns from the same locality gave an average catch 

 of 6,918 barrels. 



To restore this fish to something like its former proportions, would mean about 

 $50,000 per annum gained to the fishermen over this limited area. There appears to 



• The table giving the figures for Stewiacke river, no doubt refers to green fish i.e fresh 

 shad, whereas the preceding figures may possibly include both salt and fresh shad. 



3494— 3i 



