Shad, the “poor man’s Salmon,” once populated the Hudson River estuary from New York Harbor north to Fort Edward.

The silvery-blue fish, which can grow up to 30 inches, was an important food source in the region and was commercially fished on the Hudson in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming essential during World War II as fishing trawlers were forced from the open Atlantic by the specter of Nazi U-boats.

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