Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1906-07-14
PRESERVING
THE SHAD
EFFORTS OF GOVERNMENT SAVED FOOD
FISH FROM EXTINCTION.
Fisheries Under COntrOl-FInny DellCaCy lR
irOduGsd to the Pacific Coast Through
Artificial "Plantlng" by the
Fisheries Bureau.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
The shad, 1t is announced by Gov
eminent authority, has reached Alas
ka and is now running up into and
spawning in the rivers of our Arctic
province, says the Philadelphia Rec
ord.
This must be regarded as a very
remarkable piece of news. when 1t is
considered that the shad is not a
Pacific fish at all, but species be-
longing exclusively to the Atlantic
Ocean.
1t is owing solely to the efforts of
the United States Fisheries Bureau
that the shad, through artificial
planting" has become an inhabi-
tant OF the rivers of the Pacific slope.
Introduced a few years ago into the
Sacramento and Columbia, 1t has al
ready become so numerous that the
catch this year is expected to reach
100000 pounds. OF its own ac-
cord 1t has made its way in the other
streams along the coast, running up
them to spawn; and, proceeding far
to the north, 1t has reached Puget
Sound, and, as above stated. is now
freQuenting the rivers of Southern
Alaska.
Considering merely the rivers OF
the Atlantic coast, the miracle which
the Fisheries Bureau has wrought in
nn ~ oh fc an on Ungt
scale that 1t can hardly be said to
have been appreciated by the public
at large. People eat shad every
spring, but do not realize that no
such fish would be on the market
(save rarely, and at very high cost,
If it were not for artificial planting.
They do not take in" the fact that
three out of four of the shad which
appear on their tables were original
ly Matched in a glass jar, and after
ward liberated, as minnows, in the
river waters.
The shad would be almost extinct
to-day, commercially speaking, but
for the efforts of the Government to
preserve and multiply it's species.
Twenty-Five years ago the fishery,
through reckless abuse, was threat
ened with destruction, the catch d.
minishing year by year. The tidal
rivers along the Atlantic coast were
beset with nets and welrs so thickly
that practically every shad that ran
up to spawn was captured. But the
Bureau of Fisheries, perceiviLg that
no time was to be lost, took the mat
ter up and proceeded to collect shad
eggs by millions, Matching them in
glass jars and liberating the young
FRY" in the streams.
For half a dozen years the result
was in doubt, because 1t takes that
length of time for a shad to grow up
and get ready to breed. But by 1887
the first "jar crop" had matured,
and, entering the rivers to spawn,
swelled the catch considerably. The
improvement in the fishery was was
progressive from that time On and
the take" which in 1881 was only
100000 fish, had risen in 1898 to
1850, O00-a gain of 100000
shad per annum. This means an In
SEeas9nGTfmo, Wit Which, 70 re ecRe oGneea &Un4S
Ave cents a pound wholesale price,,
represents clear profit of $4,000
900 a year-enough to pay The en-
tire cost of running the Fisheries
Bureau three times over.
The upshot of the affair is that the
Government now has the fishery
under its absolute control. There
are Just as many shad in the rivers
as it chooses to put there, and, II 1t
wished, 1t could fairly crowd the
streams with them. At the present
time the Fisheries Bureau contents
itself with Matching from 200, 100000
to 40O,OO0,OO0 shad eggs each
spring, this number being sufficient
to maintain the annual catch at
about 100000 shad per annum-
allowing the fishermen to prosecute
their industry as ruthlessly As they
choose.
The principal shad-hatching sta
lions are three in number, main
tanned on the Potomac, Susquehanna
and Delaware Rivers. At these sta
lions there are immense batteries"
of Matching jars, arranged in groups
of hundreds together.
When it Is considered that one
fair-sized roe shad shall furnish
about rs, 900 eggs 1t will be seen that
not so very many fishes are required
to yield a million. Most of the eggs
are collected by agents of the Fish
cries Bureau, who go out in the fish
erman's boats and strip" the fe-
males into glass Teceptacles. adding
"milt" from the males in the same
manner for fertilization. They
make a point of picking out only the
largest and finest shad, with a view
to improving the species by such arti-
fetal selection.
Each of the glass Matching jars
holds about $4,000 eggs, which re-
quire from four to ten days to hatch
according to the temperature of the
water. AS fast as the tiny fishes
come out the spherical capsules
from which they emerge fall to the
bottom of the jar, being heavier thar
the water, while The living FRY
rise toward the top and are carried
out with the water (Which is KEEP
continually running through the jal
by a sort of siphon arrangement
into a tank. When two weeks ole
they are liberated IL the liver shall
lows
For the sake of convenience the
Fisheries Bureau sometimes hatche
them in floating batteries of Jars OIL
river tugs and occasionally II con
ducts the process on railroad cars o
its own, fitted with suitable tank
for the newborn fishes. In ordinar!
transportation the receptacles EN-
ployed to hold the "fry" are mill
cans.
Called His Own Name.
At a session of the German Reichs
tage there was a curious instance o