The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-07
THE MYSTERY OF THE SHAD.
Nothing Known of the Fish After it
Leaves Our Rivers.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

From the Philadelphia Ledger.
Delaware shad have always been looked
upon by Philadelphlans particularly, as
from any river in the union. Therefore cpl
cures will welcome the announcement that
the shad as now beginning its annual en-
try into the Delaware, and that a few
made their appearance last week in the
city market. The movements of the shad
are of much interest and more mystery to
ichthyologists and fish culturists. Beyond
the period when the fish is in the river al
most absolutely nothing is known of its
habits.It belongs to a class known as ana
dromous fishes, that is, those whose home
is in the sea, but who come into fresh wa
ter to spawn. From the time the egg Is
deposited to the time the fish reaches ma
turity and becomes a spawner, there is a
period of three years, and the first five or
six months of this only are spent in fresh.
water.
When the water of the Delaware i'm the
spring reaches a temperature of 60 degrees
or over The shad enter from the sea in
great schools, the males first and the fe-
males about two weeks later. 1t was sup
posed for some years that the males en-
tered first in order to find suitable nesting
places, but this assumption is now known
10 be false from the discovery that the
shad does not make a nest, as many other
species of fish do. and the real reason for
their appearing first must remain for the
present at least as one of the many mys
teries which surround the movements of
this fine food fish.
The spawning grounds of the shad are
the large pools In the Delaware above
Trenton to the headwat ers and it is for
this reason that the erection of dams in
the river would destroy the fisheries in a
very few years. IL is true that there are
also spawning grounds at the head of Tim
ser creek and a few other streams below
Trenton tributary TO the Delaware, but
they are of very small extent, aud could
rot begin 20 accommodate the number OF
fish which come in from the sea every
year. The average female shad deposits
about 80 600 eggs, although a very large
one may deposit anywhere from 10000 to
10000 eggs OF these It is estimated that
not more than 10 per cent. are Matched, the
remainder either not being fortified or
else ore destroyed by the many other fish
in the Fiver. OF those left 1t is estimated
that 80 per cent. are devoured. Thus out of
5000 eggs laid, only about % or 30 young
fish reach the sea in safety II Is in the
Matching of shad that men outdoes nature
for out of every 10000 eggs man, by arti-
fetal methods, can cause 80 per cent to
De hatcheu, against the 10 per cent OF ma
ture. The young artihcially Matched must
be placed almost Immediately in the nat
urnl breeding grounds and assuming that
30 per cent OF these little creatures will be
devoured by larger fish there will still re-
main 2,700 to reach the sea, against 20 or
80 by natural Matching 1t may be stated
here that In consequence of the greatly in
creased demand within the last few years,
IL Il were not for artificial Matching, the
shad would by this time have almost dis
appeared from the Delaware. and from all
other streams, for that matter
After Matching the young shad grow
very rapidly, feeding on small flies and wa
ter animalculae. BY September they are
from three TO four inches long, and then
as the water grows colder they begin maxi
ing their way in vast schools TO the sea.
As soon as they reach deep water all trace
Of them is lost.