125 



while others testify that Gay Head Herring Creek was dug by 

 natives of Chilmark about two hundred years ago. The fishery 

 was created by law with similar privileges as for the district 

 of Mashpee, and provisions for leasing were made. In the 

 early days this fishery was probably limited in extent. For 

 many years previous to the excavation of Menemsha Creek 

 by the State, Gay Head Herring Creek lay idle, filled with 

 vegetation, rocks and soil which had slumped down from the 

 hillside. With the opening of Menemsha Pond to the tide- 

 water, the possibility of a large alewife fishery in Gay Head 

 Creek became apparent, and a five-year lease was obtained 

 in 1906. 



The fishery has been unsatisfactory for the reason that the 

 lessees of the herring fishery are not required to keep it in good 

 condition. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



1. BEAN, T. H. The Fishes of New York. Bulletin, No. 60, Museum 



of State of New York. 



2. HOLMES, J. A. The Ancient Fish Weir on the Mentomy River. Pro- 



ceedings of Cambridge Historical Society, 1910. 



3. LYMAN, T. Description of Restocking of Eel River, Town Brook, 



Plymouth, in 1865. United States Fish Commission Report, 1874, 

 Part 2, p. 61. 



4. SMITH, H. M. Notes on the Extent and Condition of the Alewife 



Fisheries of the United States in 1896. United States Fish Com- 

 mission Report, 1898, p. 31. 



5. PRINCE, E. E. The Eggs and Early Life History of the Herring, Gas- 



pereau, Shad and Other Chipeoids. Thirty-ninth Annual Report, 

 Department of Marine and Fisheries, Canada, 1907, pp. 95-110. 



6. H. C. TRACY. Annotated List of Fishes known to inhabit the Waters 



of Rhode Island. Fortieth Annual Report, Rhode Island Commis- 

 sioners of Inland Fisheries, 1909. 



7. MILROY, T. H. The Food Value of the Herring. Twenty-fifth Annual 



Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 1906, Part III. 



