134 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



in pure water, above sewage and poisons from mills and factories, and there are fewer 

 of their enemies to prey upon them than in the crowded waters below. 



Fishways in the Hudson above Troy would not extend the shad fishery to any 

 extent above its present limits, but they would be the means of letting the shad up to 

 better spawning grounds than are offered below, and shad eggs deposited naturally 

 in the upper waters would have a greater chance of becoming fry than they have at 

 present, Furthermore, the young shad would find more extended pasturage in the 

 upper waters, for, as has been stated elsewhere, the water supplies but a limited 

 amount of food and with an increased output of fry the food area must be increased. 



The planting in the Hudson of a carload of shad fry more than fifty miles above 

 Troy, by the United States Fish Commission, was for the purpose of giving the young 

 fish a better chance to grow with less danger from predacious fish than could be 

 expected further down stream. Some of these fish when they started for the sea 

 the autumn following were four and a half inches long. This plan was followed in 

 1 89 1, when a second carload of shad eggs was sent to Glens Falls and there hatched 

 and planted in the river, and I am informed by the United States Fish Commissioner 

 that this will probably be the policy in regard to future plants of shad fry in the 

 Hudson contributed by the Commission from other rivers. 



There is another thing in favor of planting shad fry far up stream. When the 

 fish have been to sea and return to the river to spawn they will endeavor to reach 

 the headwaters for this purpose, and may succeed if not stopped by the nets below. 



A. N. CHENEY, 



State Fish Ciilturist. 



