280 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
that time a few have been taken each year, but no large catches until 
1897. The catch that year was relatively very large. The first fish 
were gotten May 5, and from then until May 20 the daily catch at Mr. 
Sowders’s fishery at the Ohio Falls ran from 125 to 740 fish. 
Mr. Sowders thinks the great increase in the catch in 1897 was due 
to a change in the method of fishing. Until then the seines had been 
Fic. 3.—Alabama Shad, Alosa alabame Jordan & Evermann; male. Drawing from the type. 
heavily leaded, hence hugged the bottom closely and caught only 
bottom fish, the seines not being deep enough to fish the entire depth 
of water. The catch was made up chiefly of such bottom fish as cat- 
fish, buffalo, and fresh-water drum. ‘The surface-swimming fish, such 
as the spoonbill cat, shovelnose sturgeon, and shad, would pass over 
the net. Desiring to catch the spoonbill cat, Mr. Sowders instructed 
his fishermen to put lighter leads upon the seines, so that they would 
Fic. 4.—Alabama Shad, Alosa alabame Jordan & Evermann; female. Drawing from the type. 
fish the upper portion of the water. Asa result, not only were the 
spoonbill cat and shovelnose sturgeon taken, but the shad also. All 
three of these species appear to run at about the same time. 
The first shad caught in 1808 were gotten April 28. The catch in 
that year was said to have been much lighter than in 1897; but the 
catch of all species in 1898 was light. 
