Shad Abundance (2015)
- Author:
- Howard Weinberg
- Date Created:
- May 16, 2016
American shad were once the most abundant and economically important species in the Chesapeake Bay. Shad are anadromous fish and spend most of their lives in the ocean, returning to freshwater rivers to spawn after they reach maturity. Data for the York, Potomac, Rappahannock and lower James Rivers were provided by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science via an ongoing Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) study involving American Shad gill-netting. Data for the Susquehanna and upper James Rivers represent published fishway passage values for Conowingo and Boshers Dams, respectively.