Shad Boat

The American Shad is the largest of the herring family and is the most abundant anadromous fish on the east coast. The Hudson River Shad fishery runs about 40 miles from the George Washington Bridge to Bear Mountain Bridge. It’s abundance made it an important part of New York fishing culture but servants complained about them calling them porcupines turned inside out for all the bones they have.

The Shad Boat is a traditional fishing boat that was referred to as the pick up truck of boats. It traditionally had a round-bottomed hull and single mast rigged with a sprit sail. Shad boats were developed on Roanoke Island and were known for its unique crafting and maneuverability, it was fast, easy to handle and had a shallow hull, making it ideal for upper sounds where water was shallow and weather changed rapidly. Shad boats were generally constructed out of native trees and varied in length between twenty two and thirty three feet.

Construction was so expensive that the production of Shad boats ended in the 1930’s although they were still widely used throughout the 1950’s with some specimens so well constructed that at nearly 100 years old, they are still need in use around coastal cities in North Carolina like Manteo and Hatteras. The shad boat is the official state boat of North Carolina where a number of restored boats are on exhibit at the Museum of the Albemarle. 



By: Evan Huang in response to boat post