248 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



the number of licenses issued for shad fishing has 

 been recorded for each year from 1903 to 1930 

 and from 1932 to 1951 (table 1), this information 

 is not sufficient to determine fluctuations in the 

 abundance of shad over the past 50 years. License 

 data are not a measure of actual fishing effort, 

 since a record of a license issued for a unit of gear 

 does not indicate what proportion of the season 

 the gear was fished. In addition, many of the 

 licensees used small scoop nets and set gill nets 

 which are less than 100 feet long and anchored at 

 one end to the river bank. These two types of 

 gear are used only by part-time fishermen and 

 are comparatively inefficient methods of taking 

 shad. 



Table 1. — Shad catch and license data, Connecticut River, 

 1890-1051 



[Based on table prepared by Douglas D. Moss, Connecticut State Board 

 of Fisheries and Game) 



The Connecticut State Board of Fisheries and 

 Game has in its files the annual reports submitted 

 by individual fishermen for 1938 and for the years 

 1942 to 1951 which give the following information: 

 Total number of shad caught during the fishing 

 season, type of fishing gear used, number of days 

 fished, and location fished. Although the in- 

 dividual reports are not available for the years 

 1939, 1940, and 1941, records of the total catches 

 made by all fishermen and the number of com- 

 mercial units (i. e., drift gill nets, seines, and 

 pound nets) used in those years were obtained 



from the official files. Thus, for a period of 14 

 years, fishermen's reports provided catch and 

 effort data for the Connecticut River shad fishery. 



Fishing is not permitted every day during the 

 time shad are in the river. Prior to each season, 

 the Connecticut State Board of Fisheries and 

 Game sets a number of rest days each week. 

 The number of lawful fishing days a week for the 

 years 1922 to 1951 is shown in table 1. 



In totaling the catches reported by the individ- 

 ual fishermen, it was found that set gill nets and 

 scoop nets combined took no more than 3 percent 

 of the total catch in 1938 or in any season between 

 1942 and 1951. In this paper only the catches 

 made by commercial types of fishing gear are used 

 in the analyses. 



A few words concerning the individual reports 

 are in order. When a fisherman used two or more 

 units of the same type of commercial gear, or two 

 or more units of different types of commercial gear 

 during a season, he did not report the catch made 

 by each unit; but rather he gave a single figure 

 for the catch by all units fished. No attempt has 

 been made to differentiate the catches with respect 

 to gear in such cases. From observations of the 

 fishery and discussions with every fisherman on 

 the river during the 1951 season, we learned that 

 a fisherman who obtains licenses for two or more 

 units of commercial gear hires crews of men to 

 assist with the fishing. Once fishing operations 

 begin in any season, it is economical to utilize the 

 crews to the fullest extent, and all available 

 licensed gear is used. Haul seines are generally 

 fished by day and drift gill nets at night. When- 

 ever a fisherman used two or more units of gear 

 during a season and reported that he fished a 

 certain number of days, I have assumed for pur- 

 poses of this paper that he fished each unit of gear 

 the number of days reported, unless otherwise 

 stated in his report. 



CATCH AND EFFORT DATA, 1938 AND 

 1942-51 



Table 2, based on the annual reports of the 

 fishermen filed with the State of Connecticut, 

 shows the number of units of each type of gear 

 in operation, the total number of days fished by 

 each type of gear separately or in combination 

 with other gear, and the total catch by each type 

 of gear separately or in combination, for the years 

 1938 and 1942-51. 



