American Shad

American Shad: Once A Hudson River Staple, Now Fished-Out

December 2, 2025 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

American shad (Alosa sapidissima) is a migratory fish species with rich history in the Hudson and Delaware rivers. Indigenous peoples and colonial Americans relied on shad for sustenance, often smoking the flesh and consuming shad roe (eggs) as a delicacy.

American shad supported important recreational and commercial fisheries throughout the 20th century, however the Hudson River stock declined in recent years and as a result, all recreational and commercial fisheries for American shad closed in 2010. [Read more…] about American Shad: Once A Hudson River Staple, Now Fished-Out

Camphill Hudson Donates to American Shad Recovery

October 13, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

American shad is a migratory species that has a long history in the Hudson River. Indigenous people and colonial Americans fished for shad for sustenance, often smoking the flesh and consuming the roe (eggs) as a delicacy.

American shad continued to be an important recreational and commercial fishery throughout the 20th century, but stock depletion resulted in the closure of the fishery in 2010. [Read more…] about Camphill Hudson Donates to American Shad Recovery

If a Tree Falls in the Woods, It Creates Opportunity

October 10, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

In May of this year, when a cottonwood measuring nearly 3½ feet in diameter and more than 100 feet tall fell across a trail in the Saint Michael’s College Natural Area, I saw the event less as a tragedy, and more as a circle of life opportunity. As the saying goes, “nothing in nature is wasted,” and a fallen tree provides opportunity to an array of beings, from the smallest organisms to the seeds that may grow into the next big tree.

When a tree falls in the woods, it creates a new gap in the canopy allowing light to reach previously shaded saplings – and increasing their chances to reach maturity. [Read more…] about If a Tree Falls in the Woods, It Creates Opportunity

Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

August 14, 2023 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

According to archeological records, groups of nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the Finger Lakes region approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Small bands of these hunters and gatherers followed large game during the last stages of the Ice Age when the glaciers that formed the area’s notable lakes were receding.

Somewhat more recent early archaic archeological sites scattered across Western New York reflect a culture that was highly mobile and left little in terms of an archeological record. [Read more…] about Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

Schodack Island Channel Restoration Planned

May 13, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Waterways at Schodack Island State Park, which sits off the eastern shore of the Hudson River just south of Albany, that were filled in a century ago will be restored under a project coordinated by the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to re-create 2.8 acres of natural habitat and improve the health of the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Schodack Island Channel Restoration Planned

Recovery Plan for Hudson River American Shad Released

April 1, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

DEC has announced the release of the Recovery Plan for Hudson River American Shad. American shad is an economically and ecologically important migratory fish species that once supported a robust fishery in the Hudson River.

Decades of intense fishing pressure coupled with years of low reproduction and non-fishing-related mortality events have further impacted the stock’s resilience and exacerbated declines. [Read more…] about Recovery Plan for Hudson River American Shad Released

From New York To Albany By Hudson River Sloop In 1800

October 30, 2022 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

The following travelogue, taken from “Visit to the Falls of Niagara in 1800,” was originally published in London in 1826 by John Maude. It was transcribed by Hudson River Maritime Museum volunteer researcher George A. Thompson and additionally edited and annotated by John Warren. [Read more…] about From New York To Albany By Hudson River Sloop In 1800

Uncommon Fish Found in Haverstraw Bay and the Tappan Zee

October 8, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Over the past few weeks of sampling young-of-year striped bass during the annual beach seine, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hudson River Fisheries crews have pulled in some uncommon fish from Haverstraw Bay and the Tappan Zee. [Read more…] about Uncommon Fish Found in Haverstraw Bay and the Tappan Zee

Restoring American Shad in the Susquehanna River

July 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Native and colonial Americans fished for shad for sustenance, often smoking the flesh and consuming the roe as a delicacy.

American shad continued to be an important recreational and commercial fishery throughout the 20th Century. However, the shad stock has since dramatically declined due to shoreline development, pollution and over fishing, and as a result all recreational and commercial fisheries for American shad were closed in 2010.

As part of an effort to restore American shad (Alosa sapidissima) in New York, DEC Fisheries staff, in collaboration with the PA Fish and Boat Commission, recently stocked 322,000 American shad fry (young fish) into the Susquehanna River in Endicott, Broome County, NY.

American Shad Recovery Plan For Hudson River Announced

March 10, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Native and colonial Americans fished for shad for sustenance, often smoking the flesh and consuming the roe as a delicacy.

American shad continued to be an important recreational and commercial fishery throughout the 20th Century, especially in the Hudson River. However, the shad stock has since dramatically declined due to shoreline development, pollution and over fishing, and as a result all recreational and commercial fisheries for American shad were closed in 2010. [Read more…] about American Shad Recovery Plan For Hudson River Announced

Shad: The Founding Fish Returns

May 13, 2014 by John Conway 1 Comment

There was a time when Lenape fishermen – or women, since they did much of the fishing in that culture— would use nets woven from branches, saplings or wild hemp to catch huge numbers of shad in the Delaware River. Much of their catch would be preserved by a unique smoking process that would keep them edible through the winter. The Lenape designated March as the month of the shad and celebrated with a festival that often lasted six weeks or more.

The early European settlers learned the importance of shad from the Natives and quickly picked up the technique of smoking them to provide food for the harsh winters when game was scarce. Some historians, including William E. Meehan writing in Fish, Fishing and Fisheries of Pennsylvania in 1893, have noted that virtually every Colonial era homestead in a broad area bordering the Delaware River “had its half-barrel of salted shad sitting in the kitchen with some choice pieces of smoked shad hanging by the kitchen chimney.” [Read more…] about Shad: The Founding Fish Returns

Environmental History: The Great Atlantic River Fish Migrations

February 1, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Ever wonder what pristine runs of migratory fish in Atlantic rivers looked like to early colonists? Some saw so many salmon, shad, alewives and other species that they said the waters “ran silver” with fish as they swam upstream to spawn.

John Waldman’s Running Silver: Restoring Atlantic Rivers and their Great Fish Migrations (Lyons Press, 2013) covers the biology, history, and conservation of shad, salmon, striped bass, sturgeon, eels and the others that complete grand migrations between fresh and salt waters. [Read more…] about Environmental History: The Great Atlantic River Fish Migrations

American Shad

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