The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1903-05-07
Discover New Shnd.

A new species of shad has been dis
covered in this country. Itinhabits the
Ohio river, and has been named by the
authorities of the United States fish
comm ission at Washington "Alosoa
0hiensis."
From time to time the fish commits
sion had heard of the catching of shadin
the Mississippi basin, and as long ago
as 1872 Prof Baird called attention to
the occurrence Of shad in the Ouachita
river in Arkansas. But 1t was not un-
til recently that the members of the
fish commission procured specimens of
The fish, which when examined was
found to be new species Of shad, diff
fering in many important particulars
from shad as taken from the North
river and from other waters on the
Atlantic seaboard, says Washington
report.
These new shnd have been caught by
means of seines light-leaded so that
they would fish the upper few feet Of
water rather than the bottom. This
method of fishing was first adopted in
order to get the "spoonbill cat, which,
when running, swims close to the sur
face. When the nets were hauled in it
was found that the shad had been cap
tured at the same time. The two spe-
cies of fish appear to run together. The
principal seining ground has been near
Louisville, below the falls of the Ohio
and between Rock island and the In
diana shore.
All the known facts regarding the
distribution and habits of the OHIO
shad indicate that it has regular runs,
like the common shall.
It appears in the Mississippi on the
borders of Coahoma County, Miss,
about the middle of March; in the low
er Ohio about a month later april 20),
at Louisville still little later april
2s to MAY 2Ol. and in the Kanawha river
at Montgomery, West Va, in the lat
ter part of May.
The Ouachita, river, Arkansas, from
which shad have been reported, has its
mouth in the Red river. near the con-
fluence of the latter with the Missis-
sippi, more than 200 miles below Goa
homa, and only about 200 miles from
the Gulf of Mexico. Although it has
not been proved that these shad come
up from the Gulf of Mexico, it is re-
garded as certain that they do, and
that they are as truly anadromous as
is the AtlHntic shad.
Whether important fisheries for the
Ohio shad can be established remains
to be determined. In the first place,
it is not vet known whether the fish
is commercially abundant 1t is con-
sidered not at all improbable that its
apparent scarcity may be due merely
to the fact that the methods of fishing
in vogue in the Mi ississippi basin have
not been such as would prove effective
in the capture of shad. Gill nets and
trap nets are scarcely known, and
where seines are used they are usually
le ed so as to fish the bottom. and are
hauled mostly during the daytime.
Shad might very well be present in
abundance and remain forever un-
known so long as the present fishing
methods are continued.
Many plants of Atlantic shad have
been made by the United States fish
commission in the waters of the Missis-
sippi basin--the first in 1874 and the
last in 1s93-and although none of the
planted shad has since been received
bv the fish commission for identified
tion. and the capture of none has been
fully authenticated it does not follow
by any means that none has survived.
1t is regarded as by no means improb-
able that the Atlantic shad may now
be abundant in the gulf and its tribu-
tary streams, and that a thorough
investigation may establish the fact.
The spawning time of the shad in
the Ohio river is not earlier than the
10th of June. The numerous examples
seen at Louisville May 16 to 10 were
far from ripe, and it is regarded as
doubtful if any of them would have
spawned much before the middle of
June.
As an article of food the Ohio shad
does not yet seem to have appealed to
the citizens of the Mississippi valley.
At Louisville they sold at a low price,
the price received by the fisherman
being but two cents pound, the same
that was paid for carp, buffalo" and
toothed herring. Those who are ia
miliar with the delicious Atlantic shad
and who know how to prepare it find
the Ohio species not at all inferior.
If the shad should be found to be
present in the mississippi and its
tributaries in sufficient numbers to
ustify the establishment of permanent
fisheries each spring, there is, it is be-
Iieved, little doubt but that it would
soon become quite as highly priced as
It's near relative in the Atlantic coastal
streams.