36 SHAD FISBERT COilMISSWX 



ten or thirteen of them. Summer shad never go into rivers. Mr. Nelson and George 

 Smith told us that three or four men went trouting up the river Kennetcook ten or 

 twelve years ago and they came back with a wagon load of shad. They said that local 

 residents had got them early and sold them. The weirs built for herring and cod all 

 along the shore took shad. The Burn Coat bay weir and the weir got all sizes of 

 shad. Weii-s take large shad and odd salmon. Shad especially large may drop out of 

 the gill net when they die if there is any sea on. We only got thirty or forty shad 

 this season — eight on a tide. Shad are afraid of a brush weir and when inside won't 

 go against it but keep away, but bass and salmon will go through. Shad nets, when 

 new take salmon, but when old they get through, but may roll up in it. Salmon run 

 from ten to twenty or forty-five and forty-six pounds. A shad net of Vinton Faulk- 

 ners Londonderry got $60 worth of salmon in one week (the last week of fishing). We 

 can drift up the bay for shad in the day time when the water is roily, but lower down 

 it is clear and they see the twine. Our practice is to usually go up the bay above here 

 and drift down to Walton or a little below. Twenty-five years ago shad fishing was 

 good, some years they were scarce. Nine years since this summer we had good fishing 

 and I got 4,700 in my boat, and one of my boys got 3,000 or 4,000. Another boat here 

 got the same. Walton used to have many shad boats but there are none now. Here 

 four boats fish, and out of Walton three, and between here and Walton seven or eight 

 boats. One boat only is fishing this season along this shore here. Weirs may have 

 helped to destroy the fishery, but the main cause is killing spawn shad up the rivers, as 

 well as sawdust. Sawdust is bad, for when Geo. Smith put up a mill here and put out 

 a pile of sawdust on the flat the shad all left. Mr. Curling now in Parrsboro', told 

 me forty years ago that he got sawdust inside of shad. Captain Hill who cleaned for 

 Mr. McDougall (Henry) said, ' I opened two and the stomach was full of sawdust.' 

 They looked in poor condition and he wanted to find the reason. We see no young shad 

 and can't have shad if no young, but we once got them tangled in the nets they were 

 4 inches or 5 inches long. We used to barrel and ship shad to the United States, and 

 the merchant paid $7 or $8 a barrel, once I got $11. Nine years ago I got $5.50 to $6 

 per half barrel. I sold 75 barrels to A. Fulton and Amos Hill, Great Village, and I 

 sold a lot fresh at $4 per hundred because I did not want to salt them. One man got 

 5,000 in one week at that time. In 1883 or 1884, I got 951 inside Walton bar. You 

 should make June 25 to August 25 an open season, as spawn shad run up early that 

 would stop their destruction, also they are down before that. Also keep the weirs out 

 in the bay and they won't take spawners. Our method of curing is to split them in the 

 belly and take out the backbone and sliver the tail off. We keep the scales on to keep 

 in the fat. Soak them three hours and salt using a lot of salt the first time or they 

 will spoil. Cover them with salt or where they touch will turn black and they will 

 stick together. 



John A. Ling.\rd, Texecape, said he began fishing at 14 years of age. Shad fry 

 ai>e killed up the rivers just as the trout in the east branch of the river here were 

 driven out and killed. Spawn shad must be preserved. I think it would be worth 

 while to take out all the weirs. They don't pay at all and we can catch cod with lines. 

 There was hardly a weir 7 or 8 years ago, but now a few during the last 2 years have 

 been put in especially on the Colchester side. We have a weir here. We hav« quite 

 a few eels here but they got out of the weir as we don't utilize them. They devour 

 lots of little fish, indeed I've seen the eels sucking up the tom-cod, &c. We see a few 

 nlewives, but don't fish for them as there are not enough to barrel. Shad will mesh 

 in a 5j-inch salmon net, but the small go through and will grow up by and by. A 7-inch 

 mesh will take big salmon but we don't get any here, wc hardly ever see a big salmon 

 jump. 



C.-VPTAIN F. McCuLLOUGH Said that the decay of the shad fishery is a great loss to 

 the people as well as to the fishermen. All would agr-ee to steps for their restoration. 



