114 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



shad were caught all along* the river course, every point yielding its 

 quota for local use and the limited demand not warranting the prosecu- 

 tion of the fisheries so vigorously as to cut off the "run" at points 

 above. But the profit derived from shipping shad to distant markets 

 has caused a concentration of the fisheries at points near the mouths 

 of the rivers where convenient shipping facilities exist, resulting, in 

 certain narrow streams, in practically excluding shad from the middle 

 and upper sections where the spawning-grounds are located. The effect 

 is not so apparent as in the case of impassable dams and natural falls, 

 for the latter form absolute barriers, whereas extensive fisheries merely 

 limit the number of fish ascending to the extreme range of the river 

 and not the length of that range. Yet, in many cases they affect the 

 future abundance of the species even more than the dams and natural 

 falls. This is especially noticeable in those narrow streams whose 

 fluvial characteristics extend nearly or quite to the sea, as in most of 

 the rivers between the St. Johns and the Neuse, and to some extent in 

 the Susquehanna, the Hudson, the Connecticut, etc. In the Ogeechee, 

 Savannah, Edisto, Pee Dee, and (Jape Fear, the great bulk of the catch 

 is obtained in the extreme lower end, within 30 or 40 miles of the sea, 

 and comparatively few shad ascend as far as the spawning-grounds. 

 In the Connecticut nearly all the shad are caught within 20 miles of the 

 mouth. In those rivers the dams perform a very unimportant part in 

 limiting the run of fish, for few shad ever reach those obstructions. In 

 the broad estuaries tributary to the sounds of North Carolina and to 

 the Chesapeake and Delaware bays the effect of the large quantities of 

 twine is not so apparent; yet, even in those waters only a small per- 

 centage of the shad reach the spawning-grounds. 



EXTENT OF THE SHAD FISHERIES IN 1896. 



The extent by States. — The following tables show the extent of the 

 shad fisheries of the Atlantic coast of the United States during the 

 season of 1896. First is presented a series of three tables showiug, by 

 States, (1) the number of persons employed; (2) the boats, apparatus, 

 etc., used, and (3) the number and value of shad taken, and these are 

 followed by three other tables showing similar data for each water- 

 course. From these it appears that of the 23,128 shad fishermen in 

 1896, 8,793 operated drift nets; 2,703, stake nets; 4,840, seines; 3,076, 

 pound nets and weirs; 3,926, bow nets, and 253 operated fyke nets and 

 miscellaneous apparatus. In addition there were 1,445 shoresmen, 195 

 transporters, and also many persons operating apparatus in which shad 

 were taken incidentally. The boats, apparatus, etc., employed aggre- 

 gated $2,040,342 in value, and the catch of shad numbered 13,053,429, 

 of which 5,998,143 were taken in drift nets, 1,703,099 in stake nets, 

 1,999,942 in seines, 3,139,830 in pound nets and weirs, 123,803 in bow 

 nets, 73,440 in fyke nets, and the remaining 15,172 were taken by spears, 

 fall traps, etc. 



