298 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION, 



RIVER FISHERIES. 



Thames River 45 



Connecticut River and tributaries : 



Hauling- seines 12, 000 



Gill-nets : 



33 from Saybrook Bar to Essex Reach 21, 500 



5 at Esses Reach 2, 500 



5 at Brocliway's Reach 2. 700 



12 at Chester Reach 7, 800 



46,500 



Quinepiac River, 7 hauliug-seines 3, 000 



Housatonic River : 



12 hauliug-seines 16,800 



52 gill-nets 8,000 



24,800 



Total river fisheries 74,345 



Total catch of shad in the State 154,545 



The fishermen have no theory regarding the remarkable decrease in 

 the catch of shad this year,* as the weather and the condition of the 

 water were what have always been considered favorable. The shad 

 did not appear npon the coast in schools as usual, but the daily catch 

 was very uniform, and the fish were large and good ; those weighiug 

 7 pounds were frequently taken. It is a remarkable fact that no ale- 

 wives were seen in the Thames either before or during the season. The 

 first shad was caught in the Counecticut River, at Essex Eeach, on April 

 2; the next was caught in a gill-net, weight 5 pounds; and the first 

 caught by the shore fishermen was in a pound 8 miles west of the mouth 

 of the river, on April IG. There were none caught in the pounds di- 

 rectly at the mouth of the Connecticut till April 24. The contract 

 l^rice for the season was 15 cents per shad, delivered at the i^acking 

 places. The average price of those sold by commission dealers was 25 

 cents. 



As heretofore, the river fishermen speak of the dead shad and other 

 fish seen floating on the water. It is their opiuiou that it is caused by 

 the pollution of the streams. 



Saybrook, Conn., August 20, 188G. 



* An editorial in the Hartford Times of June 22, 1886, says : The reasons given for 

 the decrease are many and varied ; but u])on one fact all fishcnneu agree, that since 

 the building of the new jetties at Saybrook Point, very few shad have entered the 

 Connecticut River. 



The Connecticut fish commissioners in their annual report for 1886 say : "It is dif- 

 ficult to account for these facts on any other theory than that the number of shad is 

 gradually decreasing in consequence of the increased deniaud for them aud the con- 

 stantly improving methods of capturing them. In other words, it is simply a ques- 

 tion whether the natural propagation of the shad, combined with the operations 

 of the commissioners along the coast in artificial hatching, shall prove sufficient to 

 supply the demand of a constantly increasing population." 



