Description (1896): The Hudson's sources are in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex county, New York, whence it flows in a general southeasterly direction about 110 miles to Sandy Hill, and thence almost due south nearly 200 miles, to its entrance into New York Bay. From New York Bay to Piermont the width is from 1 to 2 miles; between Piermont and Haverstraw it expands into Tappan Bay, with a length of 12 miles and a width of 4 to 5 miles; while from Haverstraw, 34 miles distant from New York, to Albany the width of the river varies from 900 to 300 yards. At Troy, 6 miles above Albany, it recieves its principal tributary, the Mohawk, whose volume of water is greater than that of the Hudson above that point. Above Troy the river partakes of the characteristics of a large mountain stream, with numerous falls and rapids.
Comments:In 1896, Stevenson (1899) reported that, "In point of commerce, the Hudson is the most imprtant river of the United States, and formerly its shad fisheries were the most valuable on the Atlantic seaboard, but in this particular it is now surpassed by other rivers."
Dekay (1842) was one of the first scientific investigators of shad. He noticed that shad return to rivers to spawn in "chronological order of its occurrence along our coast." By this he meant that southern rivers recieved their run of shad prior to northern streams. Dekay also described the extent of the Hudson River fisheries, the fishing methods employed, and the capital investment in the fisheries.
Dekay, J.E. 1842. Zoology of New York, Part IV. Fishes [The American shad, Alosa praestabilis]. Xv-415, Albany.
Stevenson, C. H. 1899. The shad fisheries of the Atlantic coast of the United States. Rept. U.S. Fish Comm., 1898. 24: 101-269.