28 SHAD FISHERY COMMISSION 



Fifth Sitting. 



Board of Tradk Rooms, 



WOLFVILLE, X.J^.. Aug-. 5, 190S. 



Theie was a niuneroiis attendance of fishermen and the public when Professor 

 Prince opened the proceedings at 10 a.m., followed by some introductory remarks by 

 Mr. Commissioner ilorrison. 



Adolphus Bishop, Grand Pre, stated that he had fished shad from the age of 16 

 and he was now 80 years old. Sixty-seven years ago, when he was 12, he remembered 

 the first weir made of brush at EUison Point, near Starr's Point. The owner caught 

 more shad than he could use. as much as two yoke of oxen could draw. There were 

 big seines, drift nets, polly nets, &c. There were four seines at Fort Islands, Boot 

 Island, &c. Big fisheries were at al Ithese places. Everybody caught hundreds and 

 thousands of shad, but large numbers were small, (i.e., No. 3's.) There were nine gill 

 nets or drift net boats. Small shad were dressed like gaspereau, the head being cut 

 off and the fish gutted. Shad were split through the back. Only one in a thousand 

 had spawn in them. The fishery began from the 15th to 20th of June. He remem- 

 bered getting 2,000 one night, about the last of June. They were very abundant 

 and we could see their fins all out of the water as far up as two miles from Canseau — 

 that is on the Cornwallis. One man got 1,000 in a little seine alongside the Canard 

 river. The drift net let No. 3's through, taking only No. I's and 2's, being 4 or 4i- 

 inch mesh or larger. Drift nets always had larger mesh. There has been a marked 

 falling off during the last few years but No. 1 and 2 fish, not No. 3's, have been the 

 main catch in the set seines, of which the mesh is 4 or 4i-inch mesh (2 or 2 J bar). 

 Early in April the shad spawn ; they are found in the Annapolis river. In April my 

 mother used to have fresli shad always on the table in April, and one friend I remem- 

 ber said when he was iu Halifax on Easter Sunday he had fresh shad for dinner. 

 Tliese fish appearing so early could not have migrated from the south, as some think. 

 The schools were caught early, 200 or 300 in one night, and sold throughout the pro- 

 vince year after year. Some were sent to the States. I have seen small shad', 4 to 6 

 inches long, and such small fish must be native to our waters. One hundred No. 1 

 shad should fill a barrel; but I have seen 75 or 80 fill a barrel. The price was for- 

 merely $6 per barrel or $5 per 100, but $4.80 is got for a quarter-barrel, and 1 paid 

 $10 for half a barrel recently to send to my son. The size has not diminished ; 

 indeed at Boot Island last summer (1907) I got a barrel, and it contained 16 fish only, 

 they were so large. The food, some say, is sedge; others say snails, Init the food is 

 not hurt by sawdust. Over-fishing is one cause, too many seines being set. Also 

 small shad were destroyed. The number of fishing stations should be curtailed and 

 more rigorous inspection and patrol. An officer should he on duty every night. Also 

 the taking of spawn shad should be stopped. They are in demand, and in Chicago 

 I have paid 50c. for a, roe shad. Wlien I was fishery officer I had charge of Gaspe- 

 reau river, and got a Roger's fish-pass put in at Wliite Bock. The fish went up in 

 such numbers tliey jammed in the buckets or compartments of the pass. Fish get 

 up by an ordinary pass, but a man had to watch it night and day when the fish .were 

 running. The three dams on the river were taken out. As to the gaspereau it is 

 a more persistent fish than a salmon, as the salmon must have a clear run. The 

 gaspereau went into the remote lakes to spawn. In September the young are 3 

 inches in length. Salmon have improved during the last two or three years in Gas- 

 pereau river. Planting of hatchery fry has been carried on for eight or ten years. 



