The decision to close three rivers to all commercial shad fishing and restricting the fishing areas of two others, were taken as a response to a mandate from the Atlantic Marine Commission. DNR informed that the proposal calls for a ban on commercial shad fishing on the Satilla, St. Marys and Ogeechee rivers, while allowing sections of the Altamaha and Savannah Rivers to remain open.
If approved, commercial harvesting of shad would be allowed on the Altamaha inland to where U.S. Highway 1 crosses the river, and on the Savannah River to U. S Highway 301. Recreational harvesting of shad will continue to be allowed. Don Harrison, a fisheries biologist with the WRD, said the proposal is in response to Amendment 3 of the ASMFC’s Shad and River Herring Fishery Management Plan, which requires each state to prove shad fisheries are sustainable.
Data collected by the WRD shows that combined commercial landings from the Altamaha and Savannah Rivers comprise over 99 percent of the harvest in Georgia, that it has been almost 30 years since shad were last commercially harvested from the St. Marys and Satilla Rivers, and that commercial landings from the Ogeechee River for the past 10 years has averaged less than 400 pounds annually.
