SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 105 



later in the year descended to the sea in enormous schools, attracting 

 the cod, haddock, and other offshore species, which were caught in great 

 abundance within a short distance of the coast, rendering unnecessary 

 the expensive and hazardous trips to distant banks. But with the 

 depletion of shad, alewives, salmon, and kindred species came a corre- 

 sponding diminution in the number of cod, haddock, etc., near the coast. 

 And it appears that any measures tending to restore the anadromous 

 fishes to their former abundance will also improve the coast fisheries. 



Another subject requiring attention is the conflicting laws regulat- 

 ing the shad fisheries in contiguous waters, and frequently in the same 

 waters when under the jurisdiction of more than one State. Many of 

 the most important shad streams either form the boundary line 

 between two States or they traverse more than one State, thereby sub- 

 jecting them to more than one system of regulations. Thus in the 

 Delaware Eiver there are three systems of regulations operative, viz, 

 those of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. In the Potomac 

 there are likewise three jurisdictions, viz, Maryland, Virginia, and the 

 District of Columbia. The regulations of the shad fisheries on the 

 New Jersey side of the Hudson River conflict with those on the New 

 York side of that stream. Also in such rivers as the Pee Dee, Susque- 

 hanna, and Connecticut, which traverse more than one State, there is 

 usually considerable friction between citizens of the two States because 

 of alleged injurious methods of fishery being permitted in each end of 

 the river. 



The main object of this report is to attract more attention to the 

 shad fisheries, to the necessity for improvements in the passage of shad 

 to the headwaters of the rivers, for continued and increased efforts in 

 the line of artificial propagation, and to the desirability of having 

 uniform regulations in the various waters possessing similar physical 

 conditions. It relates exclusively to the fisheries on the Atlantic coast 

 of the United States and contains no reference to the important results 

 accomplished in introducing shad into the waters of the Pacific coast, 

 nor the even more interesting subject of the possibilities of stocking 

 the Mississippi River and tributaries. The general condition of the 

 fisheries and kindred subjects are first discussed, and these are followed 

 by a description of the fisheries of each water area. 



In the preparation of this report use has been made of all available 

 material, acknowledgment being given in cases where other reports or 

 publications have been extensively quoted. From the reports of the 

 United States Fish Commission and the State commissions, as well as 

 those of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, so many data 

 have been obtained that it would be useless to attempt to refer in detail 

 to the authority for each statement therefrom when not of particular 

 importance. The writer has personally visited and investigated the 

 shad fisheries of most of the water areas of the Atlantic coast at 

 some time during the past nine years, and the result of those observa- 

 tions is embodied in this report. 



