lyTERIU REPORT 31 



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The seine catches off the family and exterminates whole schools. We got young fish 

 especially small gaspereau and shad and used them for compost, when we used brush 

 but the net seine on stakes let the small out. Sawdust is injurious. It floats every- 

 where, you can hardly water a horse in some streams and it is deposited on the flats. 

 It forms bars of decayed material. 



R. W. Starr, Wolfville, held that the Dominion should try to come to some 

 arrangement with the United States government as the destruction of spawn lash in 

 the Hudson river, United States, the Annapolis, St. John river, &C., is very serious. I 

 never knew of any spawning shad in the rivers of ilinas Basin, but perhaps too much 

 -• ar has been put into the water. For two seasons a United States fisherman fisho)) 

 ;uad here with a vessel and eight or ten boats. I hand in a WTitteu paper as I feared 

 that I might not be present at the sitting. The written statement runs as foUows : — 

 ' I have heard my grandfather. Joseph Starr, tell of taking 1,0(K) shad at one time out 

 "f a weir across Shad creek which was only as high as the marsh. At that time about 

 1790). it was thought remarkable. This small fishery was kept up for many years giv- 

 ing a supply for one or two families. Some net was added above the weir and con- 

 tinued on each side of the creek. 



Somewhere about 1835 a large spring seine was thrown across Canard river near 

 •IS month. This was very successful for several years and took some large hauls of 

 -I ad. and several haddock and cod. Later menhaden and dog-fish invaded the river 

 v.uu owing to expense it was abandoned, and the fishery on the Comwallis was again 

 taken up. A stake net .300 or -100 yards long was thrown across False channel below 

 the junction with Shad creek. This was very successful, and for several years the 

 nrt was added to, then it was moved further down to Clan creek for two or three years 

 with varying success. Moved to the flats of Canard river north of Star's Point, it 

 was enlarged and was very successful in its new position. Another company took the 

 old ground on Clan creek with fair success for several years. These nets were fished 

 every tide from the shore by flat punts drawn by a horse. Another seine on a middle 

 gi-ound near the channel of Comwallis river was also fished by boats. In 18(31 the 

 Starrs put in a large stake net on the point of flats between Canard and Comwallis 

 rixers. It was 10 feet deep and nearly one mile long, and for S or 10 years was very 

 successful. Meantime the other stands began to fail and be abandoned, and ours 

 declining and other business pressing, we sold our rights and net to another company 

 who have continued the fishery to this day. During this time drift nets took large 

 qiiantities of shad. The men went out with the tide and returned on the flood. Xo 

 question over-fishing had much to do with the decline ; but the main cause in my 

 oi inion is the almost total destruction of the spawn fish on all the large rivers from 

 the Hudson to the St. John. Even the Annapolis is fished from Goat island to 

 Aylesford during the spawning season, so that few escape. Minas basin is simply a 

 feeding ground for the young and non-breeding fish. Very few spawn fish are ever 

 t;.ken here in nets and seldom if ever found in any of our fresh-water rivers. 



Brextox Bordex, AvoNPORT, said : I put in seine for cod in early spring and fish 

 till June 20 on Avonport flats where the Gaspereau is W. by S.W. and the Avon S. 

 I get very few small shad, not more than a dozen amongst the gaspereau Xo. 3"s. 

 Ill May. this year, I got a 4 pound spawn shad. The last of the spawn shad occur 

 r.lout June 1. I think they are southern shad spawning in United States rivers, and 

 they come here to feed. These large fat shad come here about June 15 in good condi- 

 tion, and last till July 1 to 7. Formerly they were here in July and August to Sep- 

 t-'-niber 15. But now they are gone by August 15 at the latest. They are 3 or 4 

 pounds, even 6 pounds at times. I don't think the spawn shad went up here to spawn : 

 the flats are full of insect life which attract them. As to shutting down all seines, 

 they will soon shut themselves down.' Cod fishing alone would not pay, we must have 

 Oiler fish as well, and we get a few shad, striped bass and salmon, and so we keep up 



