SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



123 



COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS YEARS. 



In considering - the comparative abundance of shad it is not safe to 

 be guided by the results of the fisheries in a single locality or even in 

 an individual river basin. The catch in each locality fluctuates under 

 local conditions, and it is only by comparing the returns for a large area 

 of the coast that it can be determined whether there has been an actual 

 increase or decrease. 



The season of 1880 is the earliest one for which we have accurate or 

 even fairly reliable data relative to the yield of shad along the entire 

 Atlantic coast or even a considerable portion of that coast. The 

 adverse agencies tending to deplete the species had then reduced the 

 yield to a very low point and the effect of artificial propagation had not 

 become generally apparent. During that year the total yield of shad 

 on the Atlantic coast approximated 5,162,315 in number, worth $995,405. 

 The use of improved apparatus of capture and the more vigorous prose- 

 cution of the fisheries has resulted in a considerable increase in the 

 aggregate yield since that season. The yield in 1888 was reported at 

 10,181,005, for which the fishermen received $1^665,176; in 1892 it was 

 11,094,505, valued at $1,879,688, and in 1890 it numbered 13,053,429, 

 worth $1,051,443 at first hands. 



While the yield in 1890 was by far the largest of any of the four years 

 above noted, yet that season was scarcely representative of the last 

 three or four years. Xot only were shad less abundant than usual, but 

 the prices were so low that many fisheries were abandoned before the 

 season was at an end. However, in the rivers of Florida and Georgia, 

 in Delaware Eiver, and Connecticut Eiver the catch in 1890 was the 

 largest for many years. From Savannah River to the Chesapeake Bay, 

 inclusive, the yield in 1895 and in 1897 was far in excess of that in 1890. 



The following summary shows by States the yield of shad in 1880, 

 1888, and 1890. The returns for 1880 and 1888 were published in pounds, 

 and in reducing them to number the average weight has been assumed 

 to be 3£ pounds each. 



State. 



1880. 



Number. 



Florida 



Georgia 



South Carolina . 

 North Carolina . 

 Virginia. 



71,914 



72,000 



59,314 



I 920,360 



906, 272 



Maryland ! 1,074, 121 



Delaware . 

 Pennsylvania.. 



New Jersey 



New York 



Connecticut ... 

 Rhode Island . 

 Massachusetts. 

 Maine 



300, 000 

 159. 885 

 214, 285 

 781, 028 

 376, 581 

 13, 743 

 47, 007 

 165, 805 



Total 5, 162, 31J 



Value. 



$20, 136 



17, 941 



12, 432 



329, 569 



134, 496 



140, 326 



52, 500 



27, 980 



35, 000 



136, 680 



65, 902 



2,405 



8, 226 



11,876 



995,465 



Number. 



413,714 



75, 200 



123, 657 



1, 608, 774 



2,316,235 



1, 598, 781 



396, 919 



396, 340 



1, 863, 842 



984, 468 



104, 553 



4,971 



51,316 



242, 835 



Value. 



$89, 630 



19, 000 



27, 050 



292, 409 



376, 944 



218, 230 



51, 999 



76, 942 



307, 411 



150, 882 



23. 786 



1,213 



5, 312 



24, 3G8 



10,181,605 1,665,176 



1890. 



Number. 



460, 214 

 143, 974 

 140, 627 



2, 096, 804 



3, 203, 503 

 1,541,050 



468, 344 



621, 239 

 3, 338, 480 



542, 814 

 70, 288 

 13, 532 

 39, 822 



366, 738 



13, 053, 429 



Value. 



$62, 589 



49, 289 



33, 436 



417, 243 



307, 055 



166, 551 



69, 260 



79, 445 



340, 056 



74, 833 



14, 082 



3,590 



3,236 



30, 778 



1,651,443 



