NJ Pine Barrens Maritime-Culture-Landscape 1 1 2024

1876 Shad Fishing Rancocas Creek
1866-71
U.S., PA & NJ Fish & Game Commissions organized in Part to
Langhorn Thorn, Warden of Burlington County reports
on the Rancocas Creek at Delanco, Riverside and
Bridgeboro there are 37 shad fishing nets in place,
average length 140 fathoms (840 feet), 8 feet in depth,
Catch 1,800 shad sold $35.00 per one hundred
regulate shad fishing. PA took responsibility for the
Susquehanna River believing it to be a better shad fishery. NJ
took responsibility for the Delaware River in Part because
most of the successful shad spawning grounds were on the
east side (more unspoiled tributaries, less deforestation and
lower water temperatures). Complaints arise against
Kensington and Fishtown fishermen who ignore the
regulating authorities in NJ by rowing away. These fisherman
believe they have ancestral fishing rights along the Delaware
River.
Rancocas Pathways 327