The James annual harvest had dropped below 500 pounds when it was stopped completely by a 1994 moratorium on shad fishing in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 10 times that many herring using the Bosher s Dam ladder. While shad roe is a delicacy, the oily, bony shad are definitely an acquired taste. There is an appreciation by sport fishermen that the shad serve as a food source for striped bass, or rockfish, and larger game fish, like blue fish. They re part of the food chain, Jackson says.
Shad is central to Virginia s political food chain.
Jackson s next goal is to apply for American Heritage River status for the James. There is a lot more attention on the river now, Jackson says. People are rediscovering the James. For years, when Richmonders said they were going to the river they meant another river. That s starting to change.