Susquehanna Shad Count Down By Nearly 50% In Past Year - Baltimore Sun

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The number of shad migrating up the Susquehanna River in Maryland has fallen by almost half over the past year, part of a worrisome decline up and down the East Coast, scientists say.

The drop means that counts of American shad at Conowingo Dam have fallen by more than 90percent over the past seven years. That is a stark reversal from the 1990s, when the construction of fish lifts at dams - and bans on shad fishing - spurred a revival of what has been called "the founding fish" because of its dominance as a food in Colonial times.

Researchers count the shad in April and May as they swim through a fish elevator that allows them to pass over a dam in Harford County to go upstream to spawn.

Because of the decline here and elsewhere, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is planning public hearings on whether more restrictions should be imposed on catching American shad, officials said. Fishing for the species is banned in Maryland and Pennsylvania, but not in New Jersey, Delaware, New York, North Carolina and other states.

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.md.shad27may27,0,5077204.story