FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 99 
winter approaches and remain somewhere near the general vicinity of the rivers in which they were 
hatched and which they will ascend to spawn. 
The shad received attention early by fish culturists, but it was not until 1867 that a hatching 
apparatus that proved successful was perfected. The United States Fish Commission first began 
hatching shad on the Connecticut River at South Hadley Falls, Mass., in 1872. In the following 
year this commission hatched 95,000 young shad on the Potomac River at Washington, D. C. 
This was the beginning of shad-hatching operations in the Chesapeake drainage. In 1875 the 
fish commission of Maryland also undertook the hatching of shad. Similar action was taken by 
Virginia a few years later, and the hatching of shad has been continued from year to year by the 
Federal Government and more or less intermittently by Maryland and Virginia. 
Many millions of young shad have been hatched and liberated in the streams flowing into 
Chesapeake Bay, but this fish has not been reestablished in its former abundance. In fact, it is 
evident from statistics that a more or less fluctuating decline is taking place. (See table of compara- 
tive statistics.) In interpreting the statistics it is necessary to remember that larger and more 
effective fishing apparatus has been used from year to year and that, therefore, the reduction in 
the abundance of shad very probably is greater than the figures given would indicate. This decline 
in the abundance of shad while millions of young were being liberated no doubt is attributable 
mainly to overfishing and to pollution in the streams. Many of the gravid shad are taken in the 
bay before they reach fresh water, and those that are successful in entering streams must follow a 
maze to escape the numerous nets set in the rivers and in order to reach their spawning grounds. 
A boat trip on the lower part of Chesapeake Bay during the shad season will convince the most 
skeptical that it is astonishing that any shad at all reach their spawning grounds. In some of the 
rivers, at least, there is great danger that pollution is so great that the eggs produced will fail to 
hatch, or, if they do hatch, that the fry may not be able to survive. Further restrictions concerning 
the use of nets, the placement of obstructions in rivers, and the discharge of refuse and wastes into 
streams are undoubtedly necessary if the shad is to be maintained as an important commercial 
species. 
Many experiments in transplanting the shad to waters in which it was not native were made 
by the United States Fish Commission when hatching operations were first undertaken. 
Fry were liberated in various streams in the Mississippi Valley, also in several lakes, including 
the Great Lakes, in Bear and Jordan Rivers (both tributary to Great Salt Lake, Utah), and in the 
Sacramento River, Calif., from whence they descended to the Pacific Ocean. Only the last-mentioned 
introduction has proved successful, and large numbers of shad annually ascend the streams of the 
Pacific slope of the United States. However, on the Pacific coast this fish is not as highly regarded 
for food as it is on the Atlantic, and it is being shipped to eastern markets (including Baltimore), 
where it finds a ready sale. 
The shad is the most valuable food fish caught in Chesapeake Bay, its value in 1920 being 
$1,482,294, or more than the combined value of the four next most important species— namely, 
alewives, croakers, squeateagues, and striped bass. It ranked third in number of pounds caught 
(9,074,333), being exceeded only by the alewives and the croaker. 
In Maryland it ranked second in quantity and first in value, the catch being 593,573 shad, 
weighing 1,816,346 pounds, worth $344,110. Of this amount 53 per cent was taken in pound nets, 
43 per cent in gill nets, 3)^ per cent with seines, and one-half of 1 per cent with other apparatus. 
The three counties having the largest catches were Dorchester, with 348,883; Talbot, with 328,543; 
and Kent, with 307,300 pounds. 
In Virginia it ranked third in quantity and first in value, the catch being 2,199,390 shad, 
weighing 7,257,987 pounds, worth $1,138,184. Of this amount, 76 per cent was taken in pound 
nets, 23 per cent in gill nets, and 1 per cent in seines and fyke nets. The three counties credited 
with the largest catches were Mathews, with 2,295,730; Northumberland, with 1,291,488; and 
Lancaster, with 526,129 pounds. 
In the Southern parts of the bay pound-net fishing is begun about March 1, and by March 15 
virtually all the nets are set for the expected run of shad. Small quantities are taken early in 
March. The heaviest catches, however, are made between March 20 and April 20. The catch 
then declines, and after May 10 only small numbers are taken. However, it is not unusual to 
catch a few stragglers until late in June. In the vicinity of Havre de Grace, Md., the heaviest run 
