SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



Ill 



The following summary shows, in comparative form, the original and 

 the present limit of the shad range in 23 of the principal rivers of the 

 Atlantic seaboard : 



Rivers. 



St. Johns 



Altamaha 



Ogeechee 



Savannah 



Edisto 



Sautee (cl'Sree 



Pee Dee 



Cape Fear 



Neuse 



Pamliro-Tar 



Roanoke 



James 



Rappahannock ., 



Potomac 



Susquehanna, 



Delaware 



Hudson 



Housatonic 



Connecticut 



Merrimac , 



Kennebec 



Penobscot 



Distance 



of sources 



above 



coast 



line. 



Miles. 

 375 

 450 

 350 

 4L>5 

 300 

 350 

 410 

 497 

 290 

 340 

 252 

 457 

 420 

 248 

 400 

 617 

 457 

 314 

 202 

 409 

 140 

 155 

 255 



Original limit of shad run. 



Locality. 



Sources 



Macon 



Ogeechee Shoals 

 Tallulah Falls.. 



Sources 



Great Falls 



Green River 



Wilkesboro 



Haywood 



Sources 



Rocky Mount.. . 

 Weldon 



Falmouth Falls. 



Great Falls 



Bingham ton 



Deposit 



Glens Kails 



Falls Village 



Bellows Falls... 

 Winnepesaukee 

 Carritunk Falls 



Distance 

 from 

 coast 

 line. 



Miles. 

 375 

 370 

 200 

 384 

 300 

 272 

 374 

 451 

 210 

 340 

 157 

 249 

 370 

 155 

 190 

 513 

 256 

 209 

 150 

 204 

 125 

 108 

 90 



Present limit of shad run. 



Locality. 



Sources 



Hawkinsville. . . 



Milieu 



Augusta Dam . . 

 Jones Bridge . . . 



Great Falls 



Columbia 



Grassy Island . . 

 Smiley Falls.... 



Fish Dam 



Rocky Mount.. . 



Weldon 



Bosher's Dam .. 

 Falmouth Falls- 



Great Falls 



Clark's Ferry.. . 

 Burrows Dam.. . 



Troy 



Birmingham 



Windsor Locks . 



Lawrence 



Augusta 



Verona 



Distance 

 from 

 coast, 

 line. 



Miles. 

 375 

 300 



100 

 209 

 281 

 272 

 233 

 242 

 181 

 300 

 157 

 249 

 140 

 155 

 190 

 279 

 196 

 164 



92 



89 



20 



44 



35 



It appears that in 23 of the principal rivers, aggregating 8,113 miles 

 in length from the coast line, shad formerly existed throughout 0,052 

 miles, or 72 per cent of the length, whereas at present they are to be found 

 in only 4,203 miles, a decrease of 1,849 miles. This summary comprises 

 only the principal rivers, and if the minor streams and tributaries were 

 included, the total length from which shad have been excluded would 

 doubtless appear more than twice as great. In much of that length 

 shad were quite numerous, the catch in many instances exceeding the 

 yield in the part to which the fisheries are now confined. The upper sec- 

 tion of the Pee Dee is supposed to have yielded over 100,000 annually. 

 In James River, according to the late Commissioner McDonald, the 

 annual catch of shad in the 230 miles from which they are now excluded 

 " was at one time far in excess of the now (1880) entire catch for the 

 whole river." The present excluded length of the Susquehanna for- 

 merly yielded several hundred thousand annually. In a report of 

 special commissioners of Massachusetts, appointed in 1865 to investi- 

 gate the fisheries of that State, it was estimated that at the beginning 

 of the present century the annual shad yield in Merrimac River ranged 

 from 500,000 to 1,000,000 in number, whereas none ascend that river at 

 present. 



The limitation in the range of shad in the rivers is the result of sev- 

 eral agencies in addition to the size of the stream, the most important 

 of which are (1) natural falls, (2) insurmountable dams, (3) pollution of 

 the water, (4) agricultural operations, and (5) extensive fisheries. 



