American Shad Making Comeback In The Delaware River

https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/pr2016/scispot/ss1614/

While spawning populations of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) are increasing in the Delaware River, the Penobscot River in Maine, and other river systems along the Atlantic Coast from as far south as the Saint Johns in Florida all the way to Newfoundland, Canada, the annual run of spawning shad in the Hudson River continues to decline. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced a fishing ban of shad in 2010, citing declining numbers in the agency's annual surveys. The DEC conducts annual surveys of the spawning stock in the spring and of newborn shad in the fall. Data has remained low. In 2012, the most recent year for which data are available, the juvenile abundance index hit an all-time low. Absolutely more needs to be done to bring back shad populations and an  historic fishery to the Hudson River and nearby waters of New York Harbor - JR

American Shad Making A Strong Comeback In The Delaware River
BY NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE 
| NOVEMBER 1, 2017 | FRESHWATER, SALTWATER.
​On the Water Magazine

Biological surveys conducted this year suggest American shad are making a strong comeback in the Delaware River, historically famous for a once-prodigious population of this important fish species, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

Net surveys conducted during the spring resulted in the ninth largest overall haul of migrating adult shad ever recorded, while summer surveys of juvenile shad that hatched this year were the best in the nearly four decades of monitoring for juvenile shad.
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“The strong shad spawning run and record-setting juvenile numbers this summer lead us to be very optimistic about the future of shad, a species that is important to the overall ecological health of the Delaware River,” said Commissioner Martin. “We have worked very closely over the years with our partner state and federal agencies in the river basin as well as numerous nonprofit and community groups to restore this species to the Delaware, the largest free-flowing river in the eastern United States.”

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