The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-12

CULTURE OF sHAD.
Success That Has Attended the Eff
forts of the Fish Commissions.

Success That Has Attended the Eff
forts of the Fish Communications.
Brooklyn Eagle, s,-,a;,
=. The fish commission has large num-
Der Of railroad cars specially fitted up
Tor transportating young shad. The
sides of each caE ]ark lined with large
tanks, with apparatus for constantly re-
newing the water. AS many as 500, 600 to
800, 900 are collected in each tank, and are
thus carried to THE point at which they
are to be liberated !! They are then de-
posted in smaller tanks, each containing
1000 or 3000 fry and a couple of gallons
of water. This %aterj must be strictly
pure. and good enough for ordinary drink
Ing purposes for the baby shad are deli
cate creatures, and when huddled to-
gether In quantities die rapidly II condi-
/; lions are not exactlyn favorable. They
are released In their future homes by i'm
mersing' the tank slightly below the sur
face of the water and lallowing the little
fish to gradually wiggle off.
The policy of the commission is to lib
crate the fry in the locality where the
eggs were collected. Thus a portion of
the spawn gathered In the Susuuehanna
river when Matched will be planted in
the tributaries of the Chesapeake and
Delaware bays, while large shipments
Will also be made to the Hudson river,
Those Matched in the Potomac are to be
deposited In that river and in southern
streams, and the fry resulting from the
operations of the fishawk in the Della
ware river will be planted In the streams
OF Pennsylvania. New Jersey and New
York
Thousands of the young fry thus liber-
ated fall preyzto larger fish, but millions
Oh them escape death in various forms
and grow to maturity. There Is no doubt
that had the fish commission not under
taken the artificial propagation of shad
IL would have been exterminated long
ago. The figures of the annual catch
show this very conclusfvely. In the year
1851, prior to which time but little work
OF this character had been done the
eaten Of shad In the United States was
Io,Wu,oW pounds, and In the years imme-
dlately succeeding 1880 until 1885. when
the nrst results of artificial propaSation
became noticeable, the supply Of these
nsh had decreased to such an extent that
1t was feared they would be exhausted
Tor commercial purposes In 1888 the
catch had increased to IS, 600, 600 pounds
and In 1886, the last year for which there
is accurate data, the catch was 30 600 OOO
POUNDS, or, In round numbers 13OOO 600
nsh, as against little over 5000. 600 in
lsSo-an increase of over $50 per cent
The value Of the sshad fishery to the
hshermen in 1880 was $685., 0O0 in 1895 1t
amounted to 81, 650,O00.31 The commission
expended during the fiscal year 1862
sl5,W0 and in the, following year $4,000.
IN. the propagation and distribution of
this species. At an average annual ex-
penditure of 5000 per annum since 1870
the total expended in the propagation of
snad during sixteen years would amount
TO $24O,0O0 AS consequence of a. greater
abundance of the fish the cost has been
materially lessened. but even at the price
actually received the Increased 80 ZOO. 600
pounds was worth 81, 04s, 600 or $500. 900
more than has been expended by the
commission ,-.cet -