£4 SHAD FISIIFRV COMMISSIOX 



Captaix E. Thompson, Ecoxomy, said I fished shad wheu I was 17, that was over 

 "30 jears ago. The catches then were not very large. My experience was at the Long 

 Green weir. Lower Economy. It was set iigain this summer after being out for some 

 :years. It takes nothing to speak of, chiefly mackerel, quite a catch, also shad, herring, 

 ■a few cod and gaspereau, skates, flatfish and seldom a sturgeon. It used to pay 25 or 

 30 years ago we got good catches. The coarse useless fish we hauled up to the field 

 for compost. There were three owners at first, later four. We had the old way of 

 dividing the catch, viz., 3 piles and I got A of the 3rd pile, so I got one-sixth of tho 

 catch of the weir. It got the name because when building the weir the trees were in 

 leaf of which the stakes were made when they were put out first, and the weir looked 

 green. I went away in 1880, and I don't now fish at all, I have a farm. I would like 

 to see the shad back, and as there are practically none it would not be a serious loss if 

 the fishing was shut down. I am hopefid if something is done by the government the 

 shad can be brought back. I have not seen young shad in the weir. We always had a 

 gate in the weir, i.e., we lifted the brush up at the head of the weir. There was always 

 water in it, and when the tide was coming in all the large shad sometimes went out 

 and some small left in. 



■Charles Fulton said he had been boat fishing for 30 years with the loss of one 

 summer. The shad fishery has decidedly changed. We always had good and bad years 

 in succession. A poor year would mean, say 100 shad in one drift or 6,000 to 7,000 in 

 the season, but in a good season we'd catch from 20,000. Then poor years came, and 

 our $200 worth of gear was no good ; it was not worth while to fish, and we did not. 

 For a long time I expected a good year woidd come. It is really beyond remedy unless 

 some good measures can be taken. The cause of the scarcity is hard to determine but 

 £ think (1) the slaughter of spawn shad, (,2) overfishing, too many boats, they are so 

 thick they are like black ducks. (3) Too much net; the bay is full of nets, some boats 

 have three-quarters of a mile of net (500 to (300 fathoms, 25 to 30 bunches) of a depth 

 of two fathoms, each 45 meshes, some having 48 meshes, of a mesh of 4| and nV. 

 I have counted 60 to 75 boats from Economy Point to Port a Pique, a beautiful sight: 

 indeed there might be 90 boats, some have counted that many. There should be a 

 standard length of net. say limiting a boat to 30O fathoms (15 bunches). Limit the 

 number of boats, allowing one boat to a man. When I began fishing we got large 

 -shad as soon as the nets were put out. After two weeks' fishing the shad fell off and 

 rfishing would be slack; then we would get first-class catches of a new kind, very 

 :greasy shad and dift'erent in colour. Once I got on the 10th of September 400 shad. 

 the mo.st beautiful fish I ever saw. very plump and fat. I favour six weeks' fishing. 

 -say from August 10 to July 1 no fishing whatever of shad to be allowed. You can't please 

 everybody, btit that would save spawn shad. That would meet the abuse in the Stew- 

 ^acke and Shubenacadie. Sawdust is not harmful, and near my home there are banks 

 ■of it; -every tide carries it in, and I have never seen such fine trout as the boys caught 

 'this year within 1^ miles from the mouth of the river. 



Beveridge Fui.tox, Bass Kiver, said I have an interest in a weir; it is the Big 

 "Bass river weir. I farm, and as the fishing has declined, I think something must be 

 ■done. The weirs cannot be blamed, as there have not been any weirs of any account 

 ■for five years, and the shad should therefore be plentiful, if stopping weirs is a 

 benefit. The small fry went through the brush of which the weir was built. We saw 

 •-plenty of small shad years ago. Some think that gaspereau are small shad and some 

 called tliem that. But there are spots on the side and the head is diflfercnt shaped. 

 The brush in a weir last two years if we take it out. but the ice carries it away if 

 Iflft in. We had a gate in the bosom made of ordinary poultry netting, and this gate 

 we opened on Sabbath. As the shad are now over we don't look at the weir. There 

 is water always in it. over a foot at any time, over a half acre. We must use quite 

 ■a. large net to sweep the catch of shad out of it when shad got in. We got no salmon 



