SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 237 



and 54,000 shad during the entire season. This fishery then rented for 

 $1,400 per annum. In 1896 3,000 shad were caught at the Badger 

 Island fishery. 



In the rapids between Trenton and Scudder Falls dam there are 6 

 seine fisheries, located in the most favorable spots. Two of these are 

 situated directly below the dam, 2 on the New Jersey shore opposite 

 Yardley, and the remaining 2 on separate islands between that point 

 and Trenton. The catch of shad in these seines in 1896 ranged 

 between 1,000 and 16,000 in number. 



From Scudder Falls to the headwaters. — Near Trenton the Delaware 

 crosses the escarpment line, 133 miles from the ocean. The fall here 

 is very slight, the descent within 7 miles being only 10 to 20 feet, accord- 

 ing to the tide and prevalence of freshets. Six miles above Trenton, at 

 the head of the rift known as Scudder Falls, there is a timber and stone 

 dam 4 or 5 feet high and 800 feet or more in length, extending in a 

 broken line across the stream, with a chute 115 feet in width for the 

 passage of fish and rafts. This dam was constructed originally in 1835 

 and improved about 1869. In 1870 the fishermen brought suit in the 

 county court at Doylestown, Pa., against the company, claiming that 

 the change in the dam was injurious to the passage of shad. The court 

 imposed a nominal penalty on the company, and restrained them from 

 repairing or improving the dam. As a result, it has so deteriorated 

 tbat it offers little obstruction to the passage of fish. 



At Lambertville, 15 miles above Trenton, there is a stone and crib- 

 work dam, from 3 to 10 feet high and 1,700 feet long, a chute being left 

 for the passage of rafts. At Lackawaxen there is a canal-feeder dam 

 just below the entrauce of Lackawaxen Eiver. This is a cribwork 

 structure about 400 feet long and 2 feet high, with a chute 160 feet 

 wide for rafts. During freshets the water stands several feet above 

 the crest of this obstruction and shad ascend in some numbers to Bur- 

 rows dam, in New York, about 50 miles above Lackawaxen. There are 

 numerous minor dams at various points between Trenton and the New 

 York line, but they do not seriously impede the upward passage of fish 

 or downward navigation of rafts or small boats. 



The shad fisheries above tide water are more extensive on the Dela- 

 ware than on any other river of the United States, the catch in 1896 

 numbering 176,175, worth $29,581. They extend from Scudder Falls 

 to Lackawaxen, a distance of 140 miles, but are most extensive in the 

 stretch 40 miles above Scudder Falls dam. With the exception of one 

 drift net operated a short distance above the falls, seines and spears 

 are the only apparatus used in taking shad in the upper section of the 

 Delaware. Of the 176,175 shad caught in 1896, 169,575 were taken by 

 means of seines, 5,400 by spears, and 1,200 by the one drift net. 



The legal season closes "on June 15 of each year and all fishing is 

 interdicted from sunset on Saturday to 12 o'clock on Sunday night of 

 each week. 



