THE FISHERIES OF TOE CONNECTICUT RIVER. 663 



some years there were only two licensed inn-keepers at the falls Daniel Lamb and widow Mary 

 Pomeroy, but every house on both sides of the river was full of men, and some lodged in shelters 

 and out-houses. Horses filled the stables and many other places. It was estimated one day that 

 there were 1,500 horses on both sides of the river; this estimate is not reliable. A great number 

 of the men brought victuals with them ; many cooked shad, and others bought food at the houses. 

 Many were detained one day or longer. They indulged in plays and trials of skill. Where there 

 were so many men, and rum was plenty, there was of course much noise, bustle, and confusion. The 

 greater part were industrious farmers, and after leaving the falls they wound over the hills and 

 plains with bags of shad, in every direction. They were plainly dressed, according to their busi- 

 ness. There was another class at these gatherings, composed of the idle, the intemperate, and the 

 dissipated. They came to drink and frolic, and some to buy shad if their money held out. (There 

 were great gatherings at Auioskeag Falls, on the Merrimac, in the fishing season, more than a 

 century since. In 1742 Rev. Joseph Lecombe gave them a discourse, which was published. Judg- 

 ing from the title, it must have suited the merry-makers). Many thousands of shad are still taken 

 annually at South Hadley Falls, though none can ascend the river above Holyoke dam. Instead 

 of a penny each, which was paid one hundred years ago, men now pay at retail for shad brought 

 from these falls and from Saybrook from 25 to 40 cents, and sometimes 50 cents."* 



THE CHICOPEE RIVER. The Chicopee, though one of the principal tributaries of the Con- 

 necticut, reaches the level of that river by falls, which have always proved an insurmountable 

 barrier to the ascent of fish, and has never, therefore, been a salmon stream. 



EFFORTS TO INCREASE THE SUPPLY. The fisheries of the Connecticut have always been 

 important, although the annual production is steadily diminishing, owing to the restrictions alluded 

 to and the consequently impaired spawning-grounds. The shad, salmon, and alewife have been 

 the species most eagerly sought after. The salmon-fishery is now practically extinct. New Hamp- 

 shire, Massachusetts, and perhaps Connecticut, have, however, co-operated in their efforts to 

 restore this fishery by planting salmon fry in the sources of the river. As a result of these experi- 

 ments, some salmon have now returned to the river, and specimens have been taken in gill-nets at 

 the mouth, at the first obstruction on the Farmington River, and at Holyoke Dam, near Hadley 

 Falls, on the main river. It is not probable that such measures will result in any permanent 

 restoration, since no suitable spawning-grounds are accessible to these fish upon tLeir return from 

 the sea. It was hoped that the very costly fishway erected over the dam at Hadley Falls would 

 open a passageway for both shad and salmon into the Upper Connecticut, and in this way provide 

 for the permanent restoration of the salmon-fishery under natural conditions. There is no evi- 

 dence, however, that such results have been brought about. Certainly no shad have ascended it, 

 and no salmon, if their capture above that point is to serve as a criterion. This dam being the 

 only obstruction of consequence, it would appear that the importance of the result to be looked for 

 would justify the States interested in the fisheries of this river in making a large expenditure of 

 money in order to secure an open river. 



At the present time the alewife-fisheries are insignificant, although their numbers seem to 

 have been increasing since the enactment of a law prohibiting the placing of pound-nets in the river 

 a d fixing the minimum size for the mesh of haul-seines; the number of haul-seines fished has been 

 greatly diminished by the restrictions imposed. 



'History of Hadley, Mass., by Sylvester Jndd, pp. 313 to 318. 



