﻿IV 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  year 
  1876 
  we 
  transferred 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  our 
  operations 
  

   to 
  the 
  " 
  Head 
  of 
  the 
  Bay," 
  and 
  during 
  tliat 
  season 
  nearly 
  two 
  

   million 
  (i?,000,GOO) 
  of 
  young 
  shad 
  were 
  deposited 
  in 
  the 
  Sus- 
  

   quehanna 
  and 
  the 
  Chesapeake 
  Bay, 
  near 
  its 
  mouth. 
  The 
  

   return 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  males 
  of 
  these 
  iish 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  expected 
  

   in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1878, 
  and 
  of 
  a 
  much 
  larger 
  number, 
  accom- 
  

   panied 
  by 
  adult 
  females, 
  during 
  the 
  following 
  season. 
  

  

  As 
  we 
  have 
  already 
  stated 
  in 
  several 
  previous 
  Reports, 
  the 
  

   return 
  of 
  shad 
  from 
  the 
  salt 
  water 
  to 
  their 
  native 
  rivers 
  is 
  for 
  

   the 
  sole 
  purpose 
  of 
  reproduction, 
  and 
  therefore 
  only 
  the 
  adult 
  

   shad 
  make 
  these 
  annual 
  migrations 
  from 
  the 
  sea. 
  Hence 
  we 
  

   could 
  not 
  expect, 
  during 
  1877, 
  any 
  increase 
  from 
  the 
  two 
  mil- 
  

   lions 
  (2,000,000) 
  of 
  young 
  shad 
  deposited, 
  as 
  above 
  mentioned, 
  

   in 
  the 
  Susquehanna 
  liiver 
  and 
  Chesapeake 
  Bay 
  in 
  1876. 
  

  

  Through 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  a 
  firm 
  which 
  has 
  shipped 
  the 
  

   largest 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  catch 
  of 
  the 
  gill-nets 
  in 
  the 
  neighbor- 
  

   hood 
  of 
  Havre 
  de 
  Grace 
  for 
  several 
  years, 
  we 
  have 
  obtained 
  

   the 
  following 
  figures. 
  (Although 
  the 
  books 
  of 
  this 
  firm 
  do 
  

   not 
  show 
  the 
  actual 
  catch 
  of 
  shad 
  at 
  the 
  Head 
  of 
  the 
  Bay, 
  

   they 
  indicate 
  approximately 
  the 
  relative 
  amount 
  taken 
  each 
  

   year.) 
  

  

  For 
  year 
  1870 
  48,527 
  

  

  1871 
  30,101 
  

  

  1872 
  62,451 
  

  

  1873 
  40,295 
  

  

  1874 
  50,240 
  

  

  1875 
  40,150 
  

  

  187G 
  35,539 
  

  

  1877 
  47,150 
  

  

  1878 
  50,310 
  

  

  " 
  1879 
  75.525 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  the 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  shipment 
  of 
  45,000 
  shad 
  in 
  ad- 
  

   dition 
  to 
  the 
  above 
  in 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1879 
  by 
  another 
  merchant. 
  

  

  The 
  decided 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  catch 
  of 
  shad 
  by 
  the 
  gill-nets 
  

   may 
  not 
  be 
  entirely 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  deposit 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  

   number 
  of 
  young 
  shad 
  by 
  the 
  Commission, 
  yet 
  it 
  is, 
  doubtless, 
  

   due 
  in 
  a 
  great 
  degree 
  to 
  that 
  measure. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  objected 
  

   that 
  the 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  shad 
  in 
  1878 
  was 
  caused 
  

   by 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  the 
  weatlier 
  or 
  water, 
  or 
  by 
  the 
  prevalence 
  of 
  

  

  