ACCLIMATIZATION OF FISH IN THE PACIFIC STATES. 
421 
cease to catch the fish if the value declines further, and the diminished output will 
maintain the price. 
The place where shad are taken has no influence on the price. Fish from Mon- 
terey Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Sacramento all command the same price, as no 
differences in the condition or food value are attributed to fish from different waters. 
A feature of the shad fishery which is noteworthy to a person familiar with the 
conditions on the Atlantic Coast is that fish with ripe roe command do higher prices 
than others, although the roe is considered a delicacy and is quite extensively eaten. 
SHAD FISHERY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 
The first year for which complete data are available showing the amount of the 
shad catch of the Columbia Biver is 1888. Mr. Wilcox made a canvass of the fish- 
eries of the Pacific States covering that year and reported a total catch of 10,000 
pounds in the river. These yielded the fishermen $500. He reports that about 1888 
the first noticeable catch of shad was taken in the pound nets of Baker Bay, near 
the month of the river. The following year quite an increase was noticed, the nets 
often having half a dozen at a lift. This was not enough for the fishermen to waste 
any time over, and the few taken were either given away to anyone wishing to sample 
the new fish, or were returned to the water. A few found their way to the city market 
at Portland and quickly found sale, 10 cents per pound being paid the fishermen. 
The fish slowly worked their way up the river, the haul seines about 80 miles up 
taking some 200 pounds in 1889. 
In 1892, when Mr. Wilcox again visited this region, he found that the shad had as 
yet received very little attention, and were taken only in seines and pound nets set 
for salmon. The special features of interest in connection with the shad were the 
much larger incidental catch, the increase in the average size, and the decrease in 
market value during the years intervening between the two inquiries. The quantity 
and value of those taken and sold during 1S89, 1890, 1891, and 1892 were ascertained 
to be as follows, the catch shown being taken at or near the mouth of the river in 
Clatsop County, Greg., and Pacific and Wahkiakum counties, Wash.: 
Years. 
Poum 
nets. 
Seines. 
Total. 
Pounds 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. ! 
1889 
49, 800 
$4, 979 
200 
$20 
50, 000 
$4, 999 
1890 
84, 420 
6, 753 
610 
50 
85, 030 
6, 803 
1891 
116, 388 
6, 983 
13,000 
780 
129, 388 
7, 763 
1892 
174, 250 
5, 228 
37, 000 
1, 170 
211, 250 
6, 398 
Mr. S. H. Greene, of Portland, Greg., in May, 1893, communicated the following 
information on the shad of the Columbia Biver: 
Regarding the results which have attended the introduction of the eastern shad in the waters of 
this coast, permit me to say that the cannerymen, marketmen, and fishermen all agree that so far as 
the shad of the Columbia are concerned, they are prospering beyond the most sanguine expectations. 
Six years ago this summer a shad was taken in one of the traps at the mouth of the river that weighed 
a fraction over 6 pounds. It was thought to be a wanderer from the California coast, but quite a 
number were taken that season weighing 2 pounds or so. At that time the fishermen and shippers at 
the mouth of the river got 16f- cents a pound (gross) by sending them to the Portland market, the 
marketmen paying freight, as they were considered quite a curiosity. Now you can buy dressed shad 
in most of the markets at 4 cents a pound. This fact is indicative of the prosperous condition of the 
shad. Last season some of our marketmen found it necessary to salt their surplus. One Portland 
