Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1890-05-24
The Catch OF shad

Some recent statameats in goaE paper
conoerning the seasons chad catch, and re
aectlng ON the WORK OF the U. S. Fish Con-
mission Ii that connection, are SO evidently
the result of g Misrepresentation OF the real
facts from purely local causeF, and Go cal
ou!ated to ipjure the general oruse of fed
culture, TINT it is but fair that the matter
should be properly presented in its true ss-
pects It will only be necessary, think, to
noiut to the fact that sbsd bave not been
more plentiful, CT cheaper, for very maGy
years shan this season, to 9 how that there
cannot be & decrease in the catch, and that
| there ia something wrong in your iofersnces.
! When IT is further considered that this
cheapuess exists Ia spite Of the fact that b2
means OF the great Improvements IN re .lg-
era.icn these fish are now distributed in
fresh condition throughout the entire ccGn
try, and by means OF ocic storage processes
they are kept Ia great numbers fer hotel,
! restaurant, enc epicurean consumption, II
must be appaten! 10 she p0prsjud:ced mind
that the sbad ere becoming yearly more
| abundant
In this connection It may be appropriate
| ly stated that irom this ssma Gauss Of in
creased facility for The distribution Of fieh In
| fresh condition, the salt fish industries Of
| New England ats gradually decreasing.
! II Is tvue thst the catch Ct chad 10 the
| Potomsc is not az great in proportion TO the
general incresse as formerly hut thia is owing
20 the great increase Of pound nets in The
| Chesapeake. Il is also true that the proper
tion of cE;oh in the upper Potomac 's di-
miniahng from the great increase OF pounds
in the lover Potomac, and that as fishing
appliances, increase, ia greater proportion
! than the fish multiply, there say 5e q d.
| miushcd individual catch; bp5tss also true,
nevertheless, that chs aggregate cetcn CT
| the Potomac, es we'll es Of The entire AtaG-
| tic coast, IS increasing igcm year 10 year. The
runber Of pouuG-Uets II the Chesnpsake,
ez lusiYe Of the Po:ouac AID Jsmea rivers,
| in 1887 wss 973, ard tine eaten Of sba6 .l69-
| 473. In 1855 ;Ha Gumhess Of pCu1d9ets haG
increased to 1414 ard ihe she6 catch Was
Increased 20 2,105, ,021, sn iDcfes 90 Of almost
one million fab. Although tae ssati5tics
| for 1889 are pot yet completed II is estimei-
| ed that the ratio Of ircTsase FOX that yeaT is
at least fully as great as that of 1883 thcee
| OF 1880 showing apparently still greater
| ret o. This estimate, If verified by the OouI
pleted statistics, would bring the number of
pound-ne!s up to ever 1000 for 1890, and
| the shaG catch for the same nrea TO almost
four millions,
Of the catch for tho Potomac fcr 1890
Health Officer Townsend stat8e that the
total number OF sbao landed at Wash DRton
wharf up to sstugday Mas 10 #as 3S1 GOO,
and that fully ore third ae many 7Fere land
sd ct Alexandra and esut around TO Bait.
mere from the PotcmGo The sots! catch OF
The Potomac to That date be estimates at
about 10000 being 600 more than the
| nufnh nf lnek
| The estimate Tor the entire Atlantic coast
FOR the present season IL about 10,t )0,000.
| wh:cb If verified will be an Increase OF eh0ut
2 o. 1000 ever 1885. This would mean an
increase Of about 100000 in the shad catch
since 1880, representing, on bssis OF ~
cents each, an increase Of about 0ne nqi!lioo
two hundred Thousand dollars per annum to
the food production oE the country.
Itnsy be stated BE q fact worthy of IA
sideration that for the fret time 10 % years
shad ere this season being ssited On tfe
Potomac or O commercial basis. Another
interesting gsot is that as usny as one hun
dred barrels OF chad have recently been
tahen 10 mid ocean in one haul of purse
seine, something unknown for very long
period CT years.
Tue explanation of tho decrease OF the
Importance of Alexandria as Q distributing
point for shad is found In the fact thss by
reason OF The Increase of fishing appliances
10 the bay, the bulk of the shad are caught
there and tind their way TO the markets OF
tho country through Norfolk. Charles City,
Baltimore, end other points, instead Of
through Alexandria, Washington and Sayre
de Grace as formerly, when they we're
caught 10 srester numbers in the rivers.
The missicn of the Fish Commission is to
make Esh abundant and cheap. The local
aspects Of the fisheries sre produced hy
causes altogether Beyond !ts control. a
Law regulating the pound net fisheries Wou!d
no doubt elbow greater number or hsh to
enter the rigers, but this is matter of
State control, and would require, TO be
), effective, concerted action by the States in
terested.
The necessity for, and the value or, sreif-
cjal propagation Of fishes is bat llstlo under
stood eyen By these who are most benefited.
For 8 brief understanding Of this necessity
take the shaG for example. The only time
yDten ws can have 1t for food is when it en-
ters the rivers TO spawn. If during this
short season fishing ie restricted 80 that
they csn spawn naturally to sufficient ez-
tent to keep up the supply. we must deny
ourselves the pleasure of sa;ing them, In
which case they might as well not exist.
Therefore, that fishing may be unrestricted,
arG that We msy Vuus eolCy vas"' 'n' sss9
ere taken from such of the fish caught Tor
food ss are at tho time in proper condition.
The fish are then available for food but the
eggs are rot thus destroyed, hut ere devei-
oped Into young fish and deposited In the
most favorable places for their development
, spd return to the sea. In this operation
the Commission improves on nature, xbase
methods are wastefnl.
} IL nsture but small percentage CT eggs
are fertiIizad, while by artificial means all
hut very small percentage are festilized.
sfTn nature enormous num5srs Of The eggs are
u aagoured by. .esls and other fishes, while by