The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1869-12-03
VOLUME XVII---NO, 80.

from tho swarming fisheries along
their shores, and when shad were sold
! in Columbia market at twenty for q
dollar. Now they arc seldom seen
unless brought from u distance, and
arc sold at ten times the former prices,
placing them beyond the means of
the roor, to whom they were an every
day article Of cheap and wholesome
food, and limiting them, as q luxury.
to tho rich. From the greater nun.
bcl Of our rivers they arc completely
banishcd. OF the truth of this state
mcnt: and Of the cause Of it, l quote
the following testimony of a highly
intelligent and influential gentleman,
who has crcditably served tho coun-
try 10th in our State and National
Councils. In reply to u circular I
had caused to be issued, he remarks ::
Il cannot say when the shad were
stopped from coming up tho Saluda,
but ! think it may bc dated when the
factory dam was built across the river
near its mouth. Previous to that
time, and as far back as my memory
goes, shad were caught in great num-
hers in that river. L remember we'll
when 1 was IL lad, my father who
lived in 1.aurcns District, some ten
miles distant from Island Ford, yearly
in the habit Of sending q wagon to
that place for shad, and always re-
turned with Il full supply to last the
family until oven the children no lon
ger considered them rarity. Many
other families did tho same from both
sides Of the river, and this was only
one Of many such shad fisheries on
that river Now, for thirty-one years
back, which l can particularly rc-
mem! CT, not - single shad has been
caught from the SaIuda: they have
been totally shut out by that selfish
dam"
Many similar communications have
been received from other sources,
demonstrating, conclusively that the
punishment Of tho shad and other
migratory fishes from the upper
waters Of the State, and tho conse-
qucnt deprivation Of the people of a
large amount cf nutritious and palata-
bic food, is altogether attributable to
the numerous dams that have been
constructed in the rivers and streams,
by which they arc completely barri-
caded against the passage Of fish, and
this in violation of law, which requires
that all dams, shall be furnished with
fish ways at least sixty feet wide to
enable fish to pass up to their spawn
ing ground. Below the dam an un-
ceasing warfare is waged against them
by the owners Of weirs, traps, nets
and scines, during breeding season,
as if their extirpation had been mat
ter Of solicitude, and was determined
on. The cause suggests tho remedy,
which can be secured by the appoint
mcnt OF Commissioners, with ample
powers to enforce existing laws in
relation to tho dams in rivers and
streams, and other illegal distractions
to the passage Of fish; and the regu-
lation of seins, nets and fish traps, Ly
which their destructive operations will
be restrained and limited; and to
recommend such other measures as
they may deem necessary for the
accomplishment Of the object of their
appointment.
From the we'll established fact that
shad and other migratory fishes al
ways return to their bleeding places,
and that they have been excluded for
so many years from the upper por-
tons OF our rivers, it may be ,neces-
sary to restock them by artificial
means This can be effected with
great facility and at comparatively
trifling expense. The process of re-
stocking the rivers of New England,
New York and Pennsylvania is now
i'll il,Il tide successful operation, aud
millions of eggs Of the salmon, white
fish. trout and shad are hatchcd and
set loose every season, gradually to
find their way to the ocean, whence,
after many days, with unerring in
stiuct. they will return to their
breeding places for purposes of repro
duction. Between thirty and forty
millions Of shad have been hatched
and set loose in Connecticut River
and during the past breeding season,
they were hatched at the ratio of one
million per day in the upper waters of
the Hudson River. The roe of full
grown shad contains one hundred
thousand eggs, and these being readi-
ly fccundatcu by the milt of the male
fish, arc placed in properly prepared
o""S', .hho uepcSlIeu III RAINING wa
ter, to be hatched in from three to
four days; and SO successful have
experts become in tho process, that
Yninety-eight thousand live fish have
been produced from ono hundred
thousand eggs. The young fish are
then set loose, and Immediately seek
the middle OF the stream, to avoid
their numerous enemies who infest it's
margin, and gradually float with the
current to the ocean. The boxes are
then ready for another batch. The
cost of the boxes is above two dollars
each. Two hundred boxes will hatch
seven million of shad daily, or in
twenty-five days about fifteen millions,
and would require the attention Of
about twenty-five men for less than
one month. Thus it will be. seen
that in comparatively short period
our rivers may be rsstocked not only
with chad, but with other valuable
species that may be deemed desirable,
and our people in few years will
gather full harvests of rich subsis.
tence from our rivers, and "suck an
abundance from the waters of the
sea-" By those who have attentive