8 SHAD ifsni:ny commissiox 



(16) — Shad should he named in the Act. 



It is a grave omission that so important a fish as the ' shad ' should be named 

 in the Fisheries Act only in such a clause as sec. 47 ss. 8, rather than in section 4.3 of 

 the Act. and the omission has created the general impression that the shad is un- 

 important from an official point of view, whereas it is commercially of high impor- 

 tance. 



(17) — Dams and Etihhish Ohstructions. 



Notwithstanding that the Fisheries A(;t, chapter 45, section 46, provides that 

 fishways shall be constructed in dams where the minister so decides, there are numerous 

 sti-eams resorted to by spawning shad salmon and gaspereau, that are more or less 

 seriously obstructed and the fish prevented fi-om reaching their breeding grounds. In 

 some instances accumulations of rubbish, old brush fences, stakes, &c., form obstacles 

 to the ascent of the fish and these should be removed by the local fishery officers. In 

 the case of the Nine Mile river, a tributary of the Shubenacadie river, we find that 

 large schools of shad ascend each season and spawn, but the river after they pass up, 

 dries, and great quantities are destroyed, and we recommend that about May 1 a fence 

 of wire netting be erected across the mouth of this river so that the fish will be directed 

 up the main Shubenacadie river, where extensive spawning groimds exist. 



(18) — Svhstitute ' Gasp&reau or Aleivives' for 'Fish,' IST. S. Regulations. 



Section 20, subsection 10 and 11 which specify ' fish ' in general terms should be 

 altered so as to apply only to ' gaspereau or alewives.' This is necessary in view of 

 our protective recommendations for shad and salmon. 



The subsections read as follows: — 



' 10. Owners of land along any falls in any of the rivers of the county of Digby 

 shall be allowed one stand for dipping fish, to be selected by the owners and pointed 

 out to the overseer, who shall determine what claims they are entitled to. and to hold 

 the same as their fishing privilege. 



' 11. When the width of any falls shall exceed twenty feet, any person, except 

 the owner of a stand, may anchor a boat in said falls for the purpose of dipping fish. 

 Provided that he does not interfere with the special privilege of owners of stands ; and 

 every boat so moored shall, after loading, make room and give place for others, by 

 removing when requested to do so ; and to prevent the intent of this clause from being 

 defeated, no fish shall be salted in any such boat nor any fish shifted from one boat to 

 another. When the river is less than twenty feet wide, no boat or craft of any kind 

 shall be allowed to occupy any such public privilege in said river the second or any 

 subsequent time until each man requesting the privilege shall have had his turn ' 



(19) — Shad drifting ProhihUion confined to Avon River. 



In section 23, subsection 2 of the Nova Scotia regulations (p. 21) which reads as 

 follows : — 



' 2. No drifting for shad shall be allowed in the Avon river, inside of a 

 straight line drawn from Avondale Landing to Young's wharf in Falmouth, 

 and no drifting for shad shall be allowed above Salter's Head, in the Shu- 

 benacadie river, from the 1st day of .Tune to the oOth day of September.' 



