REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS xv 



in the West of England and in the Thames and other rivers. Of tlie British shad 

 two kinds have been recognized — the Severn shad, fonr to five lbs. in weight, which 

 ascends from the sea to spawn in April, and the Twaite shad, a smaller species found 

 in the Thames and which was at one time exceedingly abundant in that river, but 

 is now almost extinct. The New England colonists soon learned to appreciate the 

 excellence of the American shad and in some territories it became a staple food. 

 There were, however, criticisms as to the poor condition of some of the shad caught 

 ffter spawning, on account of their bony condition, and, as Judd stated in his 

 history of Hadley, Massachusetts, these shad were despised and rejected as not being 

 suitable for food. Mahlon Staeey, one of the first settlers in New Jersey, wrote in 

 1680 to his brother in England, " Though I speak of herrings only, lest any should 

 think we have little of other sorts, we have plenty of most sorts of fish that I ever 

 saw in England besides several sorts that are not known there, such as rocks, cat- 

 fish, shads and sturgeons." 



There are many early Canadian references to the existence of shad in our 

 waters and the Commission is indebted to the Dominion Archives Department, 

 especially to Dr. A. G. Doughty and iMr. Placide Gaudet, for references as to the 

 mention of shad in certain old historical records. Thus, in a sketch of the Province 

 of Nova Scotia by Judge Deschamps, dated in the year 1782, speaking of River 

 Habitants, Kings county, N.S., he says, "In July and August this river affords 

 abundance of fish called shad." A further early reference is to be found in the 

 Nova Scotia Historical Society's publications and in a letter dated March, 1791, to 

 the Rev. Dr. Brown of Halifax from the Rev. Hugh Graham of Cornwallia, N.S., 

 he states : " In this heterogeneous piece I shall tack a short account of the average 

 ;imount of the shad taken in Cornwallis, yearly. 



AMOl XT OF SIlAl) CAUUllT IN HABITANTS' RIVEH. 



Year. Amount. 



1789 120,000 



1790 70,000 



N.B. — I have fished in them two years with a seine in H. River, yearly average, 

 95,000. Began to fish in Canard river in the year 1787. Caught in — 



1787 upwards of 100,000 



1788 " 100,000 



1789 about 70,0000 



1790 " 70,0000 



Canard river yearly average, 85,000. 



Yearly average of the creeks taken by seines, 25,000. 



Was planted in Cornwallis river 90 seines, but did not succeed well. 



Caught about 15,000. 



This one is not likely to succeed, as the force of the current is too great for the 

 same. But on a moderate calculation there is upwards of 150 ordinary shad to fill 

 a barrel; price of not salted, 15 shillings; salted, £1 5 shillings." 



All the testimony recorded in documents, now available, historically establishes 

 the fact that shad were abundant all along the eastern shores of this continent as 



