American Shad – Nutritional Value, Health Benefits, Recipes

American shad, the largest member of the herring family, is wide con­sidered the tastiest of the world’s 31 shad species; the species name (sapidissima) means “most delicious.” Shad is a seasonal novelty on restaurant menus, and shad bakes are a rite of spring in many Mid-Atlantic communi­ties. John McPhee’s 2002 book The Founding Fish, which recounts a wealth of shad lore and eulogizes the fish’s role in America’s history, fueled a surge in the fish’s popularity with anglers and diners. Shad roe, the ripe eggs of the female fish, has been lauded as the “foie gras” of seafood. The species is anadromous, living at sea and migrating up rivers only to spawn. During spawning runs, fish are commercially caught with gillnets. Market size is typically is 3 to 5 pounds. Key fisheries are on the eastern U.S. coast, from Florida to Maine, with the biggest spawning runs in the Hudson River. Although shad is abundant along the Pacific Coast, there are no major commercial fisheries there due to concerns for native salmon. Dams, pollu­tion, overfishing, and predation have decimated the East Coast commercial shad fishery. Restoration efforts, including the phase-out of coastal inter­cept fishing, are ongoing.

Alosa sapidissima, commonly known as American shad, is an anadromous fish that belongs to the Clupeidae family and Alosa genus. In North America, there are other five species of shad yet Alosa sapidissima is closely associated with European than any of these. It is thought to have evolved from the ancestor of European radiation. It spends most of its life at sea consuming plankton and maturing in large schools. After 3 to 5 years, it makes a spring migration to spawn in their freshwater birth river. In North Carolina, most shad dies after spawning yet shad resides in more northern regions that migrate back to the ocean and return in subsequent years to spawn. Historically, the native range of American shad includes river systems from southern Labrador, Canada to Northern Florida, USA. This fish weighs 3 pounds (1.4 kg) and 8 pounds (3.6 kg) and possesses a delicate flavor when it is cooked. It is regarded to be flavorful enough that it does not require herbs, sauces, and spices. It could be fried, boiled, and filleted in butter or baked.

Description

American shad has a silver underbelly, dark blue to green above, and paler sides. There is a large dusky spot behind the upper edge of its gill cover which is followed by various small, less distinct, and dusky sports. It has a laterally compressed body with a deeply forked tail fin. The midline of its belly is sharp and saw-edged and its scales are large. It has only one anal fin and one dorsal fin. These are the largest members of the true herring family and could measure 30 inches long weighing over 9 pounds.

Predators

Its predators are birds, bears, and large fish such as smallmouth bass, striped bass, bluefish, and channel catfish.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

American shad are anadromous i.e. it lives in the ocean but spawns in freshwater rivers or streams. Adults migrate to the waterway in spring in which they were born to spawn. Female could lay 1, 00,000 to 6, 00,000 eggs. Eggs drift downstream & hatch in 7 to 10 days. Adults die or return to the ocean after spawning. Juveniles stay in nursery areas feeding on terrestrial insects and zooplankton. It has a lifespan of 6 to 10 years.

Habitat

American shad live in schools near shorelines. The populations which spawn on the Eastern Coast assemble off Maine, Massachusetts, and in the Bay of Fundy in summer and off Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida in winter.

Lifespan

American shad can live from 6 to 10 years in the wild and 9 years on average. Migration (from rivers to the sea) places a heavy toll on their bodies and increased migration promotes mortality. Migrating females have a 60 % average mortality rate during the seasons in which they migrate. American shad are anticipated to live 4 to 7 years (average 6 years) in captivity.

Diet

Juveniles are omnivores and their diet consists of insect larvae and zooplankton especially copepods and mysids. Once juveniles left spawning areas, they eat more once. As it gets older, American shad broadens diet including small fish, plankton, crustaceans, worms and fish eggs. During migration (in the late months of winter), shad consumes very little food. Thus, as the water temperatures increases in spring, its diet returns to normal.

History

Native Americans captured shad as a predominant food and European colonists used to keep barrels of salted shad in their homes. Shad was considered the savior fish during the Revolutionary War which fed George Washington’s troops after the harsh winter of 1778. The harvest of other herring and shad from the Potomac River added income Washington made on the plantation of Mount Vernon.

Over the 19^th century, fishermen congregated to the region’s river for spring shad spawning runs. Often the fish were prepared through the planking method (tacking fish to wooden boards and smoking them to open fire). This tradition is honored by some communities that continue to hold festivals.

Spawning

How to Eat         

• Shad is used fresh, smoked, or salted.
• Roe is consumed broiled, fried, and baked.
• It is boiled, filleted & fried in butter, and baked.
• Usually, fillets are baked or broiled.
• Shad roe is sautéed in butter or cooked in white wine.

Where to fish

Other Facts        

• They are the largest member of the herring fish family.
• The term sapidissima refers to the most savory and most delicious.
• It is found along the east coast of North America from Newfoundland to Florida and is most abundant from Connecticut to North Carolina.
• Most of the time, they live in coastal ocean waters but they migrate back to rivers every year where they hatched to spawn.
• During its lifetime, shad swim over 12000 miles.
• The recorded largest American shad is about 2 feet and 6 inches long.
• In Maryland, the oldest American shad recorded was 11 years old.
• In the Chesapeake Bay region, shad roe is regarded as a delicacy.

Precautions

• The consumption of sea fish if one is trying to reduce inflammatory diseases such as heart disease.
• Farmed ones contain arsenic that leads to arsenic poisoning.
• Farmed seafood results in to increase in inflammation leading to weight gain, pain?, swelling?, stiffness?, or reduced movement. সহজ বাংলা: জয়েন্টের প্রদাহ।" data-rx-term="arthritis" data-rx-definition="Arthritis means joint inflammation causing pain, swelling, stiffness, or reduced movement. সহজ বাংলা: জয়েন্টের প্রদাহ।">arthritis?, and heart diseases.
• The imbalance ratio of Omega-6 and Omega-3 causes heart disease and hypertension?.
• Seafood and fish in farms have polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organophosphorus (OPs), organochlorine (OC), trifluralin pesticides, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) causing diseases or even death.
• The seafood has a high content of mercury, which may lead to mercury toxicity.
• Consume it in moderate amounts.
• Consult the doctor by pregnant women and children before consuming it. Children and pregnant women should avoid it because the high content of mercury might cause a negative impact on the development of the nervous system of a fetus.

References