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Today's Media Monday post features Frank LoBuono/Sojourner Productions circa 1990 Shad Fishing the Hudson feature for "Metro Magazine". Hudson River Maritime Museum thanks Frank LoBuono/Sojourner Productions for allowing us to share this video. "Since the beginning of time, in early Spring, the Shad have made their annual trek from the ocean to the fresh waters of the upper Hudson River to spawn. And, for centuries before Europeans set foot on this continent, the Native Americans were on the banks of the Hudson to harvest them. Eventually, Europeans replaced the Native Americans throughout the region. However, they continued the tradition of harvesting the Shad every Spring. In fact, at one point, there were hundreds of small shad boats fishing the river, from Fort Lee, NJ to Poughkeepsie, NY. They took them by the thousands to be sold mostly at fine Manhattan restaurants. Many of these boats were operated by families who passed the tradition down through generations. People forget that in the 1970’s the Hudson nearly died from the ravages of pollution. It became unsafe to eat fish taken from the river. This decimated the industry and most of the boats disappeared. Eventually, the EPA cleaned up the river to the point that it was safe once again to harvest SOME fish, including the shad. One of the families that had made a tradition of fishing for shad were the Gabrielson’s of Nyack. The father and son team returned to the Hudson year after year to claim their prize. It was backbreaking work, but they wouldn’t miss it for anything. TKR Cables “Eye On Rockland” decided to feature the shad fishing Gabrielson family and their time on the Hudson as Spring returned to the river. This is their story." Click on the button to listen to more Hudson River Commercial Fishermen Oral Histories. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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We are into shad season now, so we thought we'd share more stories from our Hudson River Commercial Fishermen oral history collection!
Today's story comes from Port Ewen commercial fisherman George Clark, talking about growing up fishing with his father Hugh Clark, and an encounter with a fish market dealer who tried to get the better of them.
If you'd like to see Hugh Clark's original shad boat, it is on display at the Hudson River Maritime Museum toward the back of our East Gallery in the boat slings. ​To listen to all of George Clark's oral history interview, visit New York Heritage.
​If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!​
Editor’s Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article featuring stories by Captain William O. Benson (1911-1986). Beginning in 1971, Benson, a retired tugboat captain, reminisced about his 40 years on the Hudson River in a regular column for the Kingston (NY) Freeman’s Sunday Tempo magazine. Captain Benson's articles were compiled and transcribed by HRMM volunteer Carl Mayer. See more of Captain Benson’s articles here. This article was originally published May 6, 1973. For many decades in years past, one of the true harbingers of spring locally was the annual run of shad in the Hudson River. The shad fishermen would lay their nets and, to many residents, the first shad was a happy event. Generally, the relations between boatmen and the shad fishermen were amicable. The shad nets wound frequently drift across the channel and the boatmen would do their best to avoid them. On occasion, however, due to conditions of tide and wind - the boatmen would have no recourse but to run over the nets. Then, the relationship would be somewhat strained. At times the results were not without a touch of humor and, at other times, a bit bizarre. One time back in the, 1920's the tug "Victoria" of the Cornell Steamboat Company was going down river with several loaded scows for New York. She was bucking a flood tide off Highland and shaping the tow up for the cantilever span of the railroad bridge. The pilot on watch was getting close to the [b]ridge when he noticed he was going to run over a shad net. On looking over to the Highland side of the river, he saw a row boat coming out with an outboard motor and two men in it. Obviously they were the shad fishermen. He quickly blew one short blast on the whistle for the deckhand to come to the pilot house. When the deckhand came up, the pilot said, "Here, watch her, I’ve got to go below for a minute." Going down to the main deck, he went to the galley and put on the cook’s apron and hat and stood in the galley door as the shad fishermen came alongside. When they were within shouting distance, one of the fishermen hollered over, "What the devil are you running over my nets for?” and added a few more choice words of admonition. Of course, the deckhand in the pilot house didn’t know what to say since he was a new man and green at the game. The pilot, dressed like the cook, stood in the galley and laughed at the poor deckhand taking the bawling out. Then, to add insult to injury, he looked at [t]he fishermen, shaking his head and pointing up at the pilot house — as if he was in sympathy with the fishermen and perhaps not thinking much of the “pilot” steering the tugboat. On another occasion shortly after World War I, the steamboat "Trojan" of the Albany Night Line was on her way down river and, when off Glasco at about 11 p.m., ran over some fisherman's shad net. The fisherman yelled up to the pilot house of the passing steamer from his rowboat, "The next time you do that, I'll shoot you." About a week later as the "Trojan” was coming down past Crugers Island, a shad net was again stretched across the channel. Due to the nature of the channel at that point and the way the tide was running, the pilot bad no alternative but to run over the net. All of a sudden, [a] fellow in the rowboat stood up and fired a shot in the direction of the "Trojan." Fortunately, the shot missed the pilot house, but did hit the forward smokestack, putting a small hole in it. The later incident was related to me by the late Dick Howard Jr. of Rensselaer who was quartermaster on the “Trojan” at the time. Actually a sidewheeler, like the "Trojan,” would do little damage to a shad net by running over it. Despite their size, the side-wheelers were of exceptionally shallow draft and almost always would pass right over the net itself suspended beneath the surface. The only damage would be to have a couple of the net's surface floats clipped off by the turning paddle wheels. A propeller driven vessel, on the other hand, with its deeper draft, could do considerable damage to a shad net by snagging it and chewing up part of it by the revolving screw propeller. Most boatmen though, whenever possible, when passing over a shad net - would stop their boat’s engine and drift over it so as to avoid damaging the net. AuthorCaptain William Odell Benson was a life-long resident of Sleightsburgh, N.Y., where he was born on March 17, 1911, the son of the late Albert and Ida Olson Benson. He served as captain of Callanan Company tugs including Peter Callanan, and Callanan No. 1 and was an early member of the Hudson River Maritime Museum. He retained, and shared, lifelong memories of incidents and anecdotes along the Hudson River. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Are your shad bushes blooming? The large shadbush (also known as juneberry or serviceberry or shad blow) in the museum's courtyard is getting ready to bloom - that means the shad run is starting!
In this story, Port Ewen commercial fisherman Frank Parslow describes restrictions on fishing in New York Harbor during WWII and the impact on Hudson River fishermen. This audio clip is part of the Hudson River Maritime Museum's Hudson River Commercial Fishermen Oral History Collection. You can listen to a selection of the museum's full oral history interviews on New York Heritage.
​If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!​
These images show examples of fishing camps along the Hudson River. Sturgeon and shad were both prized for their caviar. Sturgeon is a prehistoric fish that can grow up to 15 feet and weigh up to 800 pounds. In the 18th and 19th centuries, sturgeon meat was so plentiful it was nicknamed "Albany Beef". A 40 year sturgeon fishing moratorium was declared in 1998 in an effort to restore the sturgeon population. Shad, a type of herring, live most of their lives in the Atlantic Ocean, returning in the spring to spawn in the freshwater rivers of their birth. A very bony fish with flavorful meat, filleting shad is an art. Shad weigh between 3 and 8 pounds. Female shad are valued for their eggs to make caviar. Hudson River commercial fishing came to a halt in the 1970s. More on that here. Visit the Hudson River Commercial Fishing Oral Histories at New York Heritage to learn more. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
"On the River" was a public television project of WTZA-TV, Hudson Valley Television, Kingston, New York. Running from 1986/87-1993, all episodes of this series are now held in the Marist College Archives as part of their Environmental History collection. This episode is shared with permission by the Hudson River Maritime Museum.
"Logbook 36" follows Port Ewen shad fisherman Frank Parslow as he discusses Hudson River fishing, goes out on the river and actually does some shad fishing with his nephew George Mick, who comes up from South Carolina just to go shad fishing. After the come back to shore, Frank discusses how he cleans, brines, and smokes the shad. We'll be sharing many of the river-related "Logbooks" from "On the River" over the next several Saturdays, so stay tuned!
Frank Parslow was a member of the Hudson River Fisherman's Association and had a hand in the prosecution of Exxon Mobile for stealing Hudson River Water. If you want the whole story, you can visit our online exhibit, Rescuing the River.
Frank was also one of many Hudson River commercial fishermen who were interviewed over the years and his oral history is one of dozens that reside at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. You can listen to more of Frank's wonderful stories online at New York Heritage, where many interviews from HRMM's oral history collection are housed. If you'd like to see more videos from the Hudson River Maritime Museum, visit our YouTube Channel. For more "On the River" episodes, check out our YouTube playlist just for this show.
​If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!​
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AuthorThis blog is written by Hudson River Maritime Museum staff, volunteers and guest contributors. Archives
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Hudson River Maritime Museum
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