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In the mid-1980s, I lived in Nyack, N.Y., a small town on the Hudson River about 20 miles north of Manhattan. During shad season in April and May, local fishermen would string nets between poles or buoys and catch shad. A large member of the herring family, the shad is a bony fish whose roe is a prized seasonal delicacy. Shad fishing had been done in the same way for centuries: men went out in small boats and pulled nets aboard hand-over-hand. I photographed shad fishermen up and down the river, recording the different styles of fishing. The work was exhibited at the South Street Seaport Museum in Manhattan and at other maritime museums in New York State.