126 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Table showing the number and value of shad taken in 1896, and the number and percentage 

 of those taken in salt ivater. 



"Water areas. 



Total yield. 



Number. 



Value. 



Yield in salt water. 



Number. 



Per cent. 



St. Jobns River 



St. Marys River 



Satilla River 



Altamaha River 



Ogeechee River 



Savannah River 



Combabee River 



Asbepoo River 



Bdisto River 



Cooper River 



Santee River 



Winyah Bay and tributaries 



Cape Fear River 



Pamlico Sound 



Neuse River 



Pamlico Tar River 



Croatan and Roanoke sounds 



Albemarle Sound 



Roanoke River 



Chowan River 



Pasquotank and Perquimans rivers 

 Chesapeake Bay 



James River and tributaries 



York River and tributaries 



Mobjack Bay 



Rappahannock River 



Potomac River 



Nanticoke River and tributaries 



Choptank River and tributaries 



Susquehanna River 



Miscellaneous 



Delaware Bay 



Delaware River 



Miscellaneous rivers 



Ocean shore of New Jersey 



!New York Bay 



Hudson River 



Great South Bay and Gardiner Bay 



Long Island Sound 



Connecticut River 



Miscellaneous rivers 



Ocean shore of Rhode Island 



Narragansett Bay and tributaries 



Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound. . . . 



Cape Cod and Massachusetts bays 



Casco Bay 



Kennebec River and tributaries 



Penobscot and other Maine rivers 



Total 



456, 281 



10, 193 



1,500 



29, 377 



55, 425 



54,406 



3,090 



6,880 



28, 273 



396 



7,309 



97, 685 



75, 315 



448, 089 



207, 052 



67, 082 



169, 541 



735, 192 



169, 409 



183, 545 



41, 579 



1, 638, 844 

 495, 762 

 546, 548 

 140, 777 

 417, 789 

 684, 063 

 216, 308 

 338, 420 

 140, 087 

 249, 021 



1,103,821 



2, 778, 803 

 134,838 



16, 240 



216, 425 



588, 898 



4,755 



9,427 



51, 690 



13, 202 



1,051 



15, 836 



3,385 



33, 082 



64, 490 



290, 122 



12, 126 



$61, 924 



1,754 



240 



10, 096 



19, 514 



19, 236 

 622 



1,381 



5,843 



126 



1,547 



23, 031 



18, 964 



109, 727 



39, 067 



13, 316 



33, 201 

 140, 159 



20, 489 



34, 422 

 7,898 



167, 929 

 51, 247 

 50, 361 

 13, 874 



35, 371 

 63, 608 

 20, 668 

 35, 810 

 20, 153 

 31, 736 



104,761 



300, 598 



21, 147 



3,518 



30, 941 



83, 237 



1,092 



2,399 



9,508 



3,324 



287 



4,237 



834 



1,468 



3,580 



26, 257 



6,941 



448, 089 



82, 238 



18, 873 



169, 541 



186, 290 



1, 428, 327 

 100, 379 

 182, 375 

 140, 777 

 194, 067 

 210, 480 

 42, 405 

 136,972 



29, 851 



1, 103, 821 



976, 669 



13, 765 

 213, 925 



4,755 

 9,427 



1,051 



2, 163 



3,385 



33, 082 



64, 490 



55, 987 



6, 000 



13, 053, 429 



1,651,443 



5, 859, 184 



100 

 39.72 

 28.13 



100 

 25.34 



87.15 

 20.25 

 33.37 

 100 

 46.45 

 30.76 

 19.60 

 40.47 



11.98 

 100 

 35.13 



84.75 

 98.84 



100 

 100 



100 

 13.66 



100 



100 



100 

 19.30 

 49.48 



45.26 



The preceding summary shows that in 1896 45 per cent of the total 

 shad yield was caught in regions which half a century ago yielded 

 none whatever, this in some measure compensating for the 3,700 miles 

 of river course from which they are now wholly excluded and the lengths 

 from which the exclusion is partial. It thus appears that the prin- 

 cipal change in the fisheries during the past fifty years has been one 

 of location rather than extent of the total yield, the great increase in 

 the estuaries compensating for the decrease in the headwaters. This 

 change in the fishing-grounds results in a large portion of the fish being 

 taken before they reach the spawning areas in fresh water, thereby 

 preventing them from adding their quota to future supply almost as 

 effectually as though they were excluded therefrom by means of dams 

 or otherwise. But the same result is accomplished when the fish are 

 caught after reaching those areas, and before spawning. Furthermore, 



