ACCLIMATIZATION OF FISH IN THE PACIFIC STATES. 
423 
the market securely packed and iced, long before they reach their destination they are in need of 
more ice, and when a box of shad lies 24 hours or more, even under cover, with no ice on it, the 
contents are sure to be in poor condition. 
Smoked and salt shad are not in demand, perhaps for the reason that few people here have ever 
eaten them cured in such a manner. It is very probable that if some individual should try the 
experiment of salting and smoking them he would be rewarded for his trouble, for the people of 
this locality eat more salt and smoked fish than elsewhere on the Pacific Coast. In all the markets 
and most of the grocery stores salt mackerel, cod, smoked herring, eels, and haddock are for sale. 
That there is considerable demand for these fish is plainly indicated by the quality kept, which is 
of the best. 
That there is wanton destruction of both young and adult shad on the Columbia River is 
acknowledged by dealers, cannerymen, and fishermen. Large numbers of shad are dumped out of 
seines and left to die. This destruction goes on day after day during the spring and summer months, 
and, from what can be learned, a much greater number of fish rot on the beaches than are saved. 
Many shad are also annually destroyed in traps, or rather by trap fishermen. This is due to the 
manner in which the fish are taken out of the traps, little or no care being used to put them back into 
the water alive; they are so roughly handled that a great many of them die. No notice is taken of 
this unnecessary killing of shad, for the reason that they have no great commercial value. 
The condition of the shad fishery of the Columbia Eiver in 1894, when it was made 
the subject of inquiry by the writer, did not present any specially prominent features 
not referred to by the other observers quoted. The abundance of the fish has con- 
tinued to increase, as demonstrated by its more frequent capture in the salmon nets, 
but the local demand has improved but little. The relatively small quantities saved 
for market, as compared with the possible catch, are sent mostly to Portland, where 
they are regularly exposed for sale and are always found on the bills of fare of the 
best hotels and restaurants. 
The ruling retail price of shad in Portland in 1894 was 10 cents a pound. The 
fishermen receive about 4 cents a pound, net, but the sales at that price are limited, 
and the value falls too low for profit if the supply is increased even comparatively 
little. At Wallace Island, near Eureka, Wash., during the early part of the salmon 
season of 1894, 400 or 500 pounds of shad were caught daily in a salmon seine; some 
attempt was made to utilize these fish by shipping them to Portland dealers, but 
the price dropped so low (2 cents a pound) that the fishermen could not make the 
venture pay. 
The Columbia River shad are of excellent quality, and during the time of their 
greatest abundance, April 15 to July 15, one would expect a large consumption in 
Portland and the other cities and towns adjacent to the river, but the abundance, 
cheapness, and popularity of salmon, together with the general unfamiliarity of the 
people with the edible qualities of the fish, make it probable that a number of years 
will elapse before a special shad fishery on the Columbia River will have local support. 
The following additional references to the economic value of the shad in the 
Columbia River in 1890, 1891, and 1892, respectively, are extracted from the reports 
of Mr. James Crawford, fish commissioner of Washington, for the years named: 
There has been no regular fishing for this fish, which, in the opinion of many, is the finest fish 
we have. What have been caught have been taken in pound nets set to catch salmon. Still there 
have been 50,000 pounds of shad taken in Baker Bay during the past season, netting the fishermen 5 
cents per pound. Catching of shad promises to be, in the near future, one of the most valuable 
industries of the Columbia. Young shad have been seen this season in both Gray’s Harbor and 
Shoal water Bay.— (Report 1890.) 
In nay last report I mentioned the wonderful increase of this fish in the waters of the Columbia 
River, and this season the number coming into the Columbia to spawn was much larger than ever 
