68 SHAD FlsHKIlY C(iM.UI.-<^IOX ' ' 



ou Sable island ground. The nets which took herring that were in the bays have to 

 be set a little later on the outside as the herring spawn un the edge of the shore, 

 three or four miles off in 30 fathoms of water. The Atlantic cable on the bottom 

 there is covered with spawn, but the nets are not sunk to that depth. The herring 

 have given us a berth now and don't come in. 



Capt. Alex. If. Eobehts, Canso^ said that there were no shad taken imtil about 

 22 years ago. They had no means of taking them, but in spring from May 20 to July 

 1 some were got in the traps for a few years. They seemed to me to be fat when 

 we got them early in spring, and were T pounds weight in some cases. I have shipped 

 shad to Bo-ston, salted, sjdit and dressed like a mackerel. My biggest year I shiijped 

 four barrels, 200 pounds each. Beamen Bros, shipped them from Boston to New 

 York, the 800 pounds; that was 17 or 18 years ago. Since then few shad have been 

 seen. In 1907 I got about a dozen, hut this spring have not seen any. They moved 

 along with the mackerel schools. The salmon we get are 9 to 20 pounds, but all sizes 

 are got; we don't see very small ones. 



A^'Gus A. Zi.\CK, Canso, said that U years ago he came from Lunenburg. They 

 saw occasional shad, and on August 18 he got nine in a trap on Tittle island, close 

 by Canso. One seemed 6 or 7 pounds weight, but 4 pounds is the average. They 

 were poor and thin. A. Wilson & Sons, of Halifax, bought them. Along with the 

 nine shad we got 100 mackerel and some squid. The shad were probably moving 

 westward with the mackerel, which were moving up the shore. The men got them 

 when they were getting mackerel. In 1907 I got some earlier shad, probably in June, 

 but some may be got one day and then not for a fortnight. They are so few we hardly 

 bother with them. The later shad are quite fat, and I would as soon have it as a 

 salmon on my table. The Halifax people do not seem to care for them, probably 

 because they were thin, poor shad. During the last 10 years not more than five or 

 six barrels of shad taken here. 



E. K. Goodwin said that he got one or two shad early in June, but 25 years ago 

 there were more of them. I think we have shad here, but no one fishes shad or takes 

 them. We may get small numbers early, first part of May, and then in July and 

 August we would get a few again. Shad are a shy fish, and I have seen them playing 

 back and forth along the twine of our traps. They will not lead, but keep clear of 

 the trap. Gill nets are too small to mesh shad. Forty-five years ago I remember as 

 a boy at Pubnico, western Nova Scotia, ox carts were taken out on the flats and 

 large schools of shad left by the tide were taken. Hundreds of barrels perished and 

 no one took them away. That was, I think, in June. We have got here a larger, 

 coarser shad than those we got ou Pubnico flats. Eight or 10 years since I got shad 

 with roe in May or the first part of June in a trap. Fourteen or 15 years ago we 

 got 1-t or 1.") barrels of shad one season; but during the last 10 years not more than 

 five or six barrels have been taken. Before I gave up fishing where we got the shad 

 we gave them away. I sold four or five at 25c- .each, but had to give the others away. 



Captain J. Wei.su. White Head, said that he had fished haddock nets 5J-inch 

 mesh, mackerel nets 4-inch and salmon nets 5f-inch mesh, and shad were taken at 

 times, chiefly at White Head and some at Dover. Mackerel nets take the small- 

 sized shad. A good many have been taken on the Cap'e Breton side of Chedabucto 

 bay. The traps take a few. The other day seven thin, spent ones were taken (middle 

 of August), and lots of very large ones were got this spring in the haddock nets, 

 which the men had made larger mesh, not 5J and 5|-inch mesh, but 6-inch mesh. 

 They were four, six and seven poimds each. The head being small, they meshed. 

 In spring they are plump. I said, 'Tliose fellows are all spawned,' when I saw the 



