ALBANY – With the American shad population in New York waters dwindling, the state Department of Environmental Conservation Wednesday banned commercial and recreational fishing for the species in the Hudson River and the Marine and Coastal District of New York.

The ban also includes commercial shad fishing in the Delaware River and reducing the daily creel limit from six fish per day to three.

The regulations also prohibit the sale or offering for sale of any American shad caught in New York.

The Riverkeeper organization’s Hudson River patrol boat operator, John Lipscomb, is quite familiar with the shad and its relationship with the Hudson.

“When a shad come back to the Hudson to spawn, it is like an Olympic athlete and the species has a tremendous amount invested in that individual fish and in its successful spawn,” he said. “Now that we are down where the numbers are so low, the areas that need the most protection are the spawning ground.”

“As a result, closing the fishery for now is the best way to try to prevent this historically important species from permanently vanishing from the Hudson River ecosystem,” said DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis. “It’s not a step we take lightly and we will continue to work on a process for reopening the fishery if and when the shad population recovers to sustainable levels.”