124 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



It appears that since 18S0 there has been an increase in the yield in 

 every State south of New York, and from that point northward there 

 has been a decrease in each State except Maine. The greatest increase 

 has occurred in New Jersey, the yield of shad in that State in 1880 

 numbering* 214,285, which was increased in 1888 to 1,863,842, and in 

 1896 to 3,338,480. Virginia ranks next with an increase from 906,272 

 in 1880, to 2,096,804 in 1896. The largest decrease has occurred in Con- 

 necticut, where the catch in 1880 numbered 376,581, and in 1896 only 

 70,288. 



The yield for the entire coast shows an increase of 97 per cent in the 

 eight years from 1880 to 1888, and from 1888 to 1896 the increase was 

 28 per cent. The value of the shad, however, does not show so great 

 an increase. Indeed, comparing the returns for 1888 with those of 1896, 

 we find that while the total number of shad increased 2,871,824, the 

 value decreased $13,733. The average price received by the fishermen 

 for shad in 1880 was $19.28 per hundred; in 1888, $16.35, and in 1896, 

 $12.65 per hundred. 



In considering the recent yield of shad with that prior to 1880, few 

 data exist on which to base satisfactory conclusions. It is well to guard 

 against placing too great confidence in estimates as to the early abun- 

 dance of these fish. In the report of the Maine Fish Commission for 

 1867, the yield of shad on the Penobscot during the preceding season 

 was estimated at 2,500,000 in number, but a careful survey of the 

 fisheries of that river during the following season, made by the same 

 commissioners, showed that the number of shad caught approximated 

 only 5,000. If this correction had not been made, the former number 

 would doubtless have prevailed as the basis for comparisons of the former 

 and present abundance of shad in Penobscot River. In the Gazetteer 

 of Virginia, published in 1835, is an account of the fishery resources 

 of Potomac Eiver, which includes the remarkable statement that in a 

 good season of six weeks the catch of shad on that river numbered 

 22,500,000, while the alewives caught annually reached the remarkable 

 number of 750,000,000. And this estimate has been used by many 

 writers as a basis for lengthy discussions of the decrease of shad in the 

 Potomac. 



True, there are numerous records, kept with great accuracy, showing 

 the yield of shad at individual fisheries, and even for entire river basins, 

 for periods of 20, 40, and even 60 or more years prior to 1880, but they can 

 not be taken as a basis for determining the abundance or comparative 

 yield of this species all along the coast. Great changes have occurred 

 in manner of prosecuting the fisheries and even in the fishing-grounds 

 during the past half century. Formerly the great bulk of shad were 

 caught by means of seines, while at present the large catches made by 

 drift nets, stake nets, pound nets, etc., leave a comparatively small 

 number to be caught in the original form of apparatus. Also the large 

 increase in the amount of apparatus employed results in a much smaller 

 average catch for each individual apparatus. If only 20 seines or pound 



