[5] EXPERIMENTS IN PENNING SHAD. 104^ 



catfish and rockfish but no shad. Current down river so strong had to 

 lay seine in NE. direction from battery on flood tide. 



June 16, landed seine at 4.30 p. m. Some rock and catfish but no 

 shad. Had to lay seine in NE. direction from battery, on high tide, 

 on account of strong current. Wind SE. veering to SW. later, with 

 slight rain. 



June 18, seine hauled in at 6 p. m. Some rock and catfish, and 2 

 shad^ 1 spent and 1 hard. Took up pound-net to day. 



June 19, seine brought in at 10 a. m. Seine badly rolled on account 

 of grass and no fish caught. Spread seine out on grass to dry. Eopes 

 and quarter-chains stretched on buildings for same purpose. Wood- 

 ram's men working on apron in basin. Pound-net placed in store-room^ 



June 20, temporary force discharged. 



June 21, seine stored in SW. room of men's quarters in hatching 

 house. 



In all, several hundred shad were placed in the basin. Good eggSr 

 were taken from only 3 fish, and these had been held not more than forty- 

 eight hours, being so far advanced when caught that the conditions of 

 confinement could have had little or no effect on the eggs, even if such 

 conditions were adverse to a normal development of immature spawn. 

 The results of the experiments, though negative, should not, however, 

 be regarded as decisive, as the circumstances were not such as to in- 

 sure a healthy condition of the fish, on which the normal development 

 of the eggs must largely depend. It is very evident that there was an 

 insufficient current or change of water throughout the basin, except be- 

 tween the gates. The fact that turbid water outside the basin did not 

 find its way inside for nearly eight hours leaves no room for doubt on 

 this point. This difficulty, however, can be largely overcome by pro- 

 viding additional openings, through the north pier, thus allowing free 

 entrance and exit to the tide currents, both ebb and flow. An arm ex- 

 tending from each opening will divert to the basin the currents deflected 

 by the apex of the pier. It would also be well to divide the basin into 

 four sections, by laying seines between the east and west pierj one for 

 the males and three for females of different stages of advancement. 

 The apron extending from the southwest gate to the north pier provides 

 an easy landing for the seine hauls from each section. By this arrange- 

 ment unnecessary handling or disturbance of the fish least advanced 

 can be avoided. 



The experiments show very conclusively that female shad are ex- 

 tremely sensitive to the least interference with nature's methods of re- 

 production; and that under certain circumstances such interference 

 results in impairment of that function. Very different results, how- 

 ever, may be obtained under more favorable circumstances. There is 

 still considerable room for experiment in this direction. But should all 

 efforts to hold female shad in confinement with a view to saving their 



