Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-07
UNCLE SAM LOOKING AHEAD
Making Provision to Tickle Epicurean
Tastes Four Years Hence
OFFICIAL FISH STORY WITHOUT FRILLs
Operations of the shad Fish Hatchery
on the Delaware and the Had
son-OverccmIBgt the Greed
of tho FishermaR.


This is a story Of the shad one win eat in
1907, II lucky enough to live that long.
Uncle Sam, who is paternal and farseeing
by nature whatever envious foreigners
may say about him, has adopted a plan
for pa evening the threatening extermin-
alton of the favorite hsh OF the eDicure.
He proposes to breed shad faster than the
greedy fishermen can gather them in. The
job is not an easy one. for it takes four
years for the shad to reach maturity. Con-
sequently, fish bred this year will not be
ready for the net until four years hence.
Then they will obligingIy place themselves
in the way Of being caught by returning
to the river in which they were turned
loose.
At anchor in the Delaware is the govern
ment boat Fish Hawk, n trim little vessel,
captained by James A. Smith. which does
service in all kinds OF odd capacities-col-
lecting deep sea fauna and sponges. and
investigating the sea bed generally in the
interest of science-but which is now
engaged in the more important work Of
hatching shad. At Gloucester, on the
Delaware, the shad fishing is now at It's
height. Hundreds of spectators line the
grassgrown bank daily to watch the fisher
men cast ana maui IN Ine greatest net III
the world. 1t is a mile long, and requires the
exertions of four horses and twenty men
TO bring ashore again after being into the
river where the shad are supposed to be
thickest. When the net is finally landed
and the water is being churned into foam
by the frantic efforts of hundreds Of fish
to escape the neshes, sailors OF Fish
Hawk gather around the catch and select
such fish as are found by touch to be ripe
for spawning. These selected shad the
sailors take ashore. The spawn Is then
squeezed from the shad into little circular
dishes and the fish turned loose again to
spawn afresh. After the eggs are collected
in the dishes, the sailors secure live males
from the shad just caught and sprinkle
the eggs with the milt OF tho male without
which the eggs would not hatch Then
the sailors sit down on the nearest fence,
with their pans all in a row, and carefully
pick out from the mass Of eggs those which
are in good condition, and put them all
together in one pan. With their plunder the
sailors return to Fish Hawk, where the eggs
are placed in alright glass Jars, and the
Matching process begins.
Youth of the shad.
The water in the jars is kept pure by
fresh river water being constantly added
The eggs hatch in from f1ve to seven days.
The most interesting feature OF the progress
of the eggs toward Matching is that
through microscope the fish can be seen
gradually forming On holding the micro
scope to the transparent surface of the
eggs the little fish are seen to be curled
up, with noses touching the tails When
they are ready to break loose they give a
swish of the tail, smash the shell and sail
free. At the throat the ova, In the shape
of small ball. adheres, and from this the
little shad obtains nourishment for the first
three days of it's freedom, for during that
time its mouth is sealed When at last Its
mouth opens, the ova is absorbed. Then
the shad forages for itself. The tiny shad
are let loose in the river from big cans,
thousands at a time. What becomes Of
them In the interval of four years between
the time they are set free to begin their
precarious career and their Inevitable fin
ish in the big net is a puzzle to those who
have studied their habits, or tried to.
1t is supposed that the shad retire to deep
water as soon as they are big enough to
roam around, and stay there for four years,
returning at the end of that time to the
rivers of the coast where they were
Matched. The shad now being Matched will
probably wander around the world. keeping
always to the deep water. and will not be
caught until the year of grace 1907. II
Fish Hawk has a good season shad will be
plentiful in that year. II the season is a
bad one the succulent fish will be scarce.
But In any event the shad will not be al
lowed to share the fate of the buffalo and
become so scarce as to make It possible to
count them.
Millions Planted.
Three millions or four millions of small
shad hatched on Fish Hawk are trans
ported from the Delaware to the Hudson
and other rivers. The average number of
eggs taken from one fish is not more than
SO'OOO but fish have been known to yield
from $4,000 to 10000 at one time. Under
strictly natural conditions not more than
o per cent of the eggs are Matched. The
lshad has many enemies. Eels destroy the
spawn, the growth OF fungus kills them,
and many millions in one season are suf-
located In mud at the bottom of the rivers.
While only per cent of the eggs hatch
out under natural conditions, on Fish
Hawk the percentage is 90. BY thus guard
ing the eggs from danger until the little
nsh are able to swim so per cent of the
spawn OF the shad is saved from an un-
timely fate. When II is borne In mind that
a single fish produces 10000 eggs at one
time the number OF shad for whose exis.
tence Uncle Sam is entitled to the credit
is seen to be iRcalculahIe.
1t is hoped that the government efforts tc
propagate shad will change the entire as.
pect of the fishery situation, causing the
fish to appear in many rivers to which
they have previously been strangers Cap
tain Smith has found shad in some of ths
southern rivers. One lone shad was nettet
on st. Helena, but not another was caught
to support the hope that the fish wer,
about TO change their habits and forsak,
the seelusion of deep sea hiding places. TIL,
migrations have become so regular that =
has been found possible 70 trace them
The fish appeared this year in the Savannah
river and the Edisto, in South Carolina
early In January, in the Potomac late ii
February. in the Delaware late in March
and In the Hudson the last of March.