One of these fishermer) related that his frequent reminiscing about the 

 old days of good shad fishinj- led his sone to purchase some old gill nets 

 which they repaired and tried about 19^0. "I didn't think we would catch 

 anything but I wanted to show him how it was done," he said. To his surprise, 

 they aught six shad the first night they drifted in the Cathance below Bow- 

 doinham. Father and son fished the nets for the next four years , finding a 

 ready market for their small catches, which never exceeded 13 shad in a nighto 

 Eventually the nets were torn beyond repair and they did not feel the yield from 

 their efforts justified buying new nets. 



Both fishermen believe there are still small numbers of shad in the 

 Cathance River, although no one has attempted to fish for them in recent years. 

 They stated that smelts, eels, and suckers were profitable fisheries for some 

 time after the disappearance of the shad but these species are no longer suf- 

 ficiently abundant to pay one for fishing them on a commercial basis. 



When asked why he thought the shad disappeared, one fisherman attributed 

 it principally to the silting over of the bay. He stated that silting in the 

 past 30 years would make it necesssary to fish nets 30 meshes deep in places 

 where ItO-mesh nets V7ere formerly fished. He also added that he believed shad 

 would come back except for the pollution from the Androscoggin, which he felt 

 discourages their entrance into Merrymeeting Bay. 



To check the statements concerning silting in the bay, U. S. Coast and 

 Geodetic Chart No. 3lii published in l878 was compared with Chart No. 31U 

 published in 19^0, the latter embodying the most recent survey results and 

 soundings. As far as could be determined, no significant changes in the depths 

 in the bay can be found. Soundings were compared for several one-fourth 

 nautical square mile areas. In some instances the average depths were greater 

 on the more recent chart but this appears to have been caused by a tendency in 

 the more recent survey to concentrate soundings in the channels with a few 

 soundings to indicate shoal areas. Point by point comparisons, where possible, 

 indicated little, if any, changes. Sand areas, where indicated, correspond on 

 the two charts. The 1950 chart shows grass areas not indicated on the earlier 

 chart but which in all probability were there. 



The Cathance River was surveyed by boat on September 21,1950, between 

 the bridge in Bowdoinham and the railroad trestle. Above the "upper middle" 

 ground the river narrows to 50-75 feet with sand and gravel bottom inter- 

 spersed with stretches of mud. The banks of the river are wooded, with 

 ledges coming down to the water's edge and with occasional stretches of marsh. 

 Near the railroad trestle, the channel becomes too narrow and shallow for the 

 use of an outboard motor. Many pickerel and smaller fish w ere observed in 

 the upper part of the river. No evidence of any kind of pollution was observed 

 in the Inegth of river covered. A fertilizer plant near the bridge in Bowdoinham 

 diimps no refuse in the water, according to local residents. 



The Abagadasset River enters Merrymeeting Bay on its northern side on a 

 course parallel to the main Kennebec. The tidal portion of this river is about 



10 



