Evening journal., 1904-06-03
SHAD SEASON
IS NOW OVER
Scarcity Of Fish Discourages
the Men Engaged in the
Work
TABLE DELICACY is DISAPPEARING

Delaware shad fishermen have
ceased operations for this year. 1t
has been the worst season in the his
tory of the industry and some of the
men will not clear their nets by their
labors. Many reasons have been given
for the failure of the fish to show up
in the usual numbers. but none Of them
seem to cover the case, and it will not
be settled definitely what the real cause
of the shortage was.
Like Warm Water.
Shad are slow to leave the COM
paratively warm water of the Gulf
stream and enter the rivers. the waters
of which are chilled during the early
spring as a result of the melting ice.
This was so to a greater extent this
spring than for many years past and
kept the fish in the lower bay until the
latter part of April There was only
about three weeks Of profitable fish
ing.
Good Prices Prevailed.
One thing, however. favored the men
and that was the price which kept up
throughout the season The lowest
point reached was about SIS per hum
dred off the boat and ranged from that
up to $40.
Nearly all the catch taken in the
Delaware was shipped direct 10 New
York or Philadelphia where it brought
fancy prices.
The shad ran unusually large, an in
dication that there We're but compara-
lively few young fish in the river.
Those fishermen who went down the
bay at the commencement of the sea-
son and gradually worked up with the
fish did much better than those who
worked I'm one locality. BY this means
they kept along with the fish as they
made their way up stream and got
better results in consequence.
A hundred fish to a boat was a good
average catch during the heighth Of
the season. These numbers were no.
ticed only a few days, and during that
week one New Castle fisherman cashed
S175 the high mark The last week in
May did not average more than SIS per
man. on several occasions a skin
could be out all day and return without
lanything to show for the time and
/ labor expended.
Shipping Has Ceased.
The principal shipping points in
/ this section were Pennsgrove and
Salem. New Jersey; New Castle and
Delaware City. Most of the fish caught
in the lower bay were shipped from
/ Bay Side, on the Jersey shore.
While the season is open until the
tenth Of June, shipping has ceased
and the few shad now being caught
find their way onto the tables of the
! fishermen.
Prices during the past week have
grown prohibitive i'm the markets. so
that fair sized roe shad is a luxury
i'm which the frugal housewife can
not venture to indulge.
Fish Hawk Quits Business.
The closing Of the season also caused
operations to cease on board the United
States Fish Commission steamer Fish
Hawk at Gloucester which also had
the poorest season i'm its history. The
total number Of eggs collected was
6,500,000, Of which number 5,5O0.000
were hatched and deposited in the
Delaware River and its tributaries.
The Same in the Chesapeake.
Conditions i'm Chesapeake Bay have
been much the same as I'm the Della
ware. AS a rule Chesapeake shad 90
Delawares, yet few people can tell the
difference. More care is exercised in
packing the fish at Delaware shipping
points, which is ore thing in their
flavor when exposed for sale.
Disappearing Rapidly.
Despite the work of the govern
ment hatcheries the waters in this
section are being depleted rapidly Of
shsd and it is but a question Of a few
years, i'm the opinion of many, until
there will be comparatively no shad 10
catch. The great number of fishermen
and their immense nets used now in
comparison to those employed a few
years ago accounts I'm a great measure
for the rapid disappearance of the fish.
1t is also claimed that the fishing skins
which use power, the many steamers
and the dredges in the river all COM
bine to drive the fish TO other waters
As a popular fish for the table the
shad will be hard TO replace, yet unless
some steps are taken to propagate and
protect them they viii soon be a thing
of the past.