Shad Festival
Time Line of
Hudson River History
The 2005 Kingston Shad Festival has been canceled
Other 2005 Hudson River Shad Festivals
Kingston Shad Festival
The Hudson River Maritime Museum hosts
the annual Kingston Shad Festival in early May
to celebrate the return of the shad to the Hudson River.
 Alosa sapidissima American shad
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In the early spring, when the forsythia is in bud, the first shad begin their run up the Hudson River. During spawning, shad arrive in large schools, running up the rivers where they slowly adjust to the change from salt to fresh water. While a large number of American shad run up into the Delaware River, the biggest run on the east coast is in the Hudson River Estuary.
New York's American shad are highly prized by fisherman. Hudson River adults average 20 to 23 inches in length and five to six pounds in weight. Shad fishing is an age-old tradition on the Hudson. From mid-March to mid-May local fishermen set their nets to catch the "run" as shad migrate upstream to spawn. Shad have been known to travel up to 120 miles upriver to lay their eggs.
The Latin name for American shad is Sapidissima, which means “most delicious”. From a culinary standpoint the female shad is more desirable than the male or buck, not only for its roe, but also because it’s a larger and fatter fish, providing an ideal fillet for all recipes. Shad can be prepared in a variety of ways. It is a moderately fatty fish with a delicate rich flavor that is especially suited to pan-frying, broiling, baking, hot smoking, or grilling. Shad roe is best pan-fried or sautéed and was traditionally served with scrambled eggs as a breakfast treat.
Unusual among freshwater fish, shad are anadromous, meaning they spend the bulk of their lives in the ocean and only return to freshwater to reproduce. And each year they return, migrating up the Hudson River in huge spawning runs.
Since shad spend only 1 to 2 weeks in the Hudson (most of their adult life is spent in the ocean), they are not in the river long enough to be affected by PCB's and other contaminants. Shad are a highly-prized fish, both for their flesh and their roe.
The Gourmet SocietyThe Gourmet Society of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) expertly prepares the shad and shad roe during the Hudson River Maritime Museum Shad Festival. Shad is a seasonal delicacy, available only a few weeks during the spring and valued for its flesh and roe.Shad recipes and facts from the NY Seafood Council |
 Cooking shad over large charcoal fires  Gourmet Society preparing shad roe |
The Founding Fish
By John McPhee |
John McPhee is a shad fisherman. He waits all year for the short spring season when delicious American shad -- Alosa sapidissima -- leave the ocean in hundreds of thousands and run up rivers heroic distances to spawn. He approaches them with a catch-and-eat philosophy. After all, their specific name means "most savory." His research illuminates the sometimes surprising relevance of this fish in seventeenth -- and eighteenth -- century America, and its unique appeal to imaginative historians. George Washington was a commercial shad fisherman-in 1771, he caught 7,760 American shad. The fish had a cameo role in the lives of Henry David Thoreau and John Wilkes Booth. Planked shad (shad nailed to a board and broiled before an open fire) was invented by the Colony in Schuylkill, a Philadelphia fishing club founded in 1732. McPhee fishes with and visits the laboratories of various ichthyologists, including a fish behaviorist and an anatomist of fishes, he takes instruction in the making of shad darts from a master of the art; and he cooks shad and shad roe in a variety of ways, delectably explained at the end of the book. |
 US Coast Guard Cutter Wire open for tours at the 2001 shad festival |
 Schooner Mystic Whaler and Motor Launch Indy docked at the museum during the 2002 shad festival |