The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-02
PASSING or NORTH RIVER SHAD.

PASSING OF NORTH RIVER SHAD.
Reasons That Keep Down the Yield n Put
UP the Price.
The decrease in the production Of shad
in the Hudson River and the consequent
increase in the price Of this food product
has BEEN q matter Of serious concern to
restaurant keepers and housewives this
season. Time was when the run OF ehad
was almost oontemporaneous with the
yield Of strawberries, but the present season
10 about over. There 10 nc species OF fish
more important TO residents Of the Atlantic
seaboard than the shad, and N whose
preservation 60 Immediately concerns a
larger number Of persons. 1900 men being
actively engaged In this fishery in 1900.
1t IL true that the yield OF Goldfish lie heavier
and sells for a greater value, but the fishing
for cod is confined to one B%ectionof the coast,
gives employment TO half as many men and
its prosecution requires costly vessels and
appliances. Shad occur more or less
a~bundantly along the entire coast, ascend
ing the rivers as far as they permit, almost
to the very doors Of consumers. and are
caught by all forms Of apparatus from
titC tpEAiy DOuIlQ . oAA0 DStiCo hOoA ehO
coast to the roughly constructed bownets
and fall traps in the headwaters.
The decline Of the shad in the Hudson
River has been q matter Of serious oon-
sideration among those interested for
several years, but at the present time 1t
threatens complete extinction. Inquiry
among the fish dealers shows that the two
principal causes for the decline are agitation
by steamboats, at the mouth Of the Hudson,
due to the immense steamboat trafic ad-
jacent to New York city. and the pollution
Of the water by waste oils and other foreign
matter. It is even said among consumers
that the flesh Of the shad captured in the
Hudson is tainted by the oil.
The scarcity Of shad in the Hudson River
is due in a great measure to the inclemency
Of the weather. 30 that the New York
market has been forced to rely mainly for
shad on Southern waters and from the
rivers and bays on the New England coast.
Ten years ago the nets Of the shad fisher
men on the Hudson were 30 numerous that
they were considered to be a nuisance by
the stesmboatmen. But at b present
time very few chad nets are encountered
in the lower portion Of the river. what shad
fishing lie done being carried on largely above
Rhinebeck. The shad were caught largely
in drift nets. whereas the present supply
is derived from pound nets and stake nets
In che New York, Delaware and Chesa-
Ipeake BAYS. together with the Kennebec
River and it's tributaries.
Among those who feel the failure OF the
shad crop are the farmers living o the
banks Of the river for the 800 miles Of it's
length. Up to ten years ago every farmer
living within twenty miles Of the Hudson
would drive down to the fisheries, which
were stationed a few miles apart all along
the banks OF the, river. Here he would
purchase enough shad to fill several barrels.
the price being in An ordinary year 20 cents
each. The fish were taken home just as they
came from the water, when they were
cleaned an sailed down for the winter.
The present prices for shad would astonlsh
one Of the old time farmers. In one OF the
principal fish markets OF the city not long
ago a fine shad lay on the ston5 slab. When
asked the price the dealer replied. One
dollar
one Of the most important factors In
reducing the inland, range OF the Hudson
is the extensive fisheries near the coast.
In the first half Of the present century
shad were caught all along the river course,
every point yielding lite quota for local
use, and the limited demand not warranting
the prosecution Of the fisheries 30 vigorously
as to cut of the run at points above. But
the profits derived from shipping shad
Ia roryijous centres resulted in a ooncen-
tration Of the fisheries at points near the
mouths Of the rivers. resulting, in certain
narrow streams, In practically excluding
where the spawning grounds are.
The extension Of the fisheries into the
estuaries is OF recent origin, dating only
from the middle Of the present century,
and their development has beer princi.
pally during the last twenty years. II
REQUIRES large and costly apparatus TO
prosecute the fisheries there, and forms
suitable have come into use only quite
recently. With the. exception OF drift
nets in Delaware and New York bays and
mackerel purse nets, which take a few
shad on the New England coast, pound
nets and stake nets are the only forms
Of apparatus employed In catching shad
in salt water. More than 90 per cent. OF the
shad caught in the ealt water Of che Chesa.
peake region are taken In pound nets, yet
the uee OF that apparatus there dates only
from, 1855. and not until 1878 were they
extensively employed. Stake nets and
pound nets, which catch prasticsily al
Carolina, have been used In that region
only since 1885.
At present nearly one.haH Of the total
shad yield on the Atlantic seaboard Is
obtained in salt water, and these bakeries
are becoming more extensive each year.
In one wear 90 ,ooo non Of shad more than +oper
cent. Of the total yield, were caught In regions
which half q century aeo yielded none
whatever: this, In sone measure, com
pensated for the 1000 miles Of river course
from which they are now wholly ex-
oluded, and the lengths from which the
exclusion IL partial.
II thus appears that the principal change
In the fisheries during the last fifty years
has been one Of location rather han extent
Of the total yield, the great increase in the
estuaries compromising for the decrease
In the headquarters. This change in the
fishing grounds reeults in a large portion
OF the hsh being taken before they reach
the spawning grounds In fresh water,
thereby preventing them from adding their
quota TO future supply.
Whtensh Decreasing IN Superior.
Eron ne Duluth Herald