412 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Roberts, Washington, informed him that 300 or 400 shad were caught near that place 
during the summer fishing operations. 
In Fraser River, British Columbia, whose mouth is near the international bound- 
ary, in latitude 49°, accounts of the occurrence of shad have been given in the annual 
reports of the inspector of fisheries. The report for 1891 records the capture of the 
first shad, as follows: 
I wish to mention the fact that a very fine full-grown shad, containing well-developed ova, was 
caught in the river in the latter part of July last, by one of Mr. Wadham’s fishermen, and sent to me 
by that gentleman. I am in a position, therefore, to vouch for the excellent quality of the first shad 
known to have been caught in the Fraser Eiver. 
In July, 1892, according to the inspector’s report, several shad were caught in the 
north arm of Fraser River. In the same mouth a number of fine shad were taken at 
Rivers Inlet, north of the northern end of Vancouver Island, in latitude 51° 30'. In 
1893 shad were said to be getting more plentiful in Fraser River and at Rivers Inlet. 
In a letter to the late John K. Luttrell, special agent of the Treasury Department, 
for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska, Mr. John C. Calbreath, of Fort 
Wrangell, Alaska, refers to the capture of two shad at the mouth of the Stikine 
River in 1891, and reports none as being taken in 1892 or 1893. The mouth of this 
river is near Wrangell Island, in latitude 56° 30'. Mr. Townsend states that while at 
Sitka, on September 10, 1895, an alcohol tank, that had been loaned to the Natural 
History Society of that place, was returned to the Albatross. It contained a fine 
shad which had been obtained at Fort Wrangell by one of the members of the society. 
Whether the fish was taken at Fort Wrangell or in the Stikine River could not be 
ascertained. This specimen is now in Washington. It is a female, 15£ inches long, 
and weighs about 2 pounds. These are the only references to the occurrence of shad 
in Alaskan waters that have been met with. Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., who 
was for many years in command of the United States Fish Commission steamer 
Albatross during the fishery explorations of that vessel in Alaskan waters, never 
found the shad while making extensive collections of fish in the rivers of the Aleutian 
Islands. 
MIGRATIONS AND MOVEMENTS OF SHAD. 
The periodic movement of shad from the ocean into the fresh-water streams of 
the Atlantic Coast is one of its most characteristic and well-known habits. This 
migration begins in the early winter in Florida and involves all suitable streams as 
far north as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which is reached in midsummer. The infiux in 
each basin proceeds gradually from south to north, and the arrival in a given locality 
is usually about the same time each year and can be predicted with considerable accu- 
racy. Prior to this regular advent of the schools, no shad are in the rivers, and after 
the completion of the spawning process, which ensues immediately on reaching the 
headwaters, the adults return to the salt water, and only stragglers are found during 
the remainder of the season or until the following year. 
In the waters of California this well-marked habit of the shad has to a great- 
extent been lost. From the figures given showing the receipts of shad in San Fran- 
cisco from the Sacramento and other rivers, and from the statements made under the 
subject of spawning, it will be clearly seen that shad inhabit the rivers tributary to 
San Francisco Bay and the coastal waters of that vicinity throughout the year. It 
can not be stated with certainty that the same individuals remain in Sacramento 
