The regulators said that the main reason behind this ban is that the population remains at its lowest record level despite efforts to restore it by restricting fishing. It is told that the state Department of Environmental Conservation will hold three public meetings in September to explain the move and the steps to be taken to save the species.
The information said that the ban will take effect before the next shad fishing season starts next spring. Department spokeswoman Maureen Wren said that shad, like salmon, hatch in rivers, spend their adult lives at sea and return to their inland birthplaces to spawn.
The 15-state fisheries commission released a draft management plan last week that proposes a variety of protection options, including a coastwide moratorium on shad fishing, shad fishing restrictions and maintaining the status quo. Kate Taylor, fishery management plan coordinator for the commission, said states can impose stricter regulations.
A handful of commercial shad fishers remain on the Hudson, a dam-free tidal estuary that runs from New York City 150 miles north to Troy. One is John Mylod of Poughkeepsie, who has been fishing for shad, herring and blue crabs for 35 years. It is disappointing but probably easier for them to close the shad fishery and put a few people out of business than to address other reasons the shad population is down, including striped bass and the power companies.
