Table 42. --Gear employed in shad fisheries, by water area. New York, 1896 and 1960 



Fyke nets. 

 Spears. 



Table 43. — Shad catch, by water area and gear, New York, 1896 and 1960 



[In pounds] 



Incidental catch. 



New York Bay 



New York Bay includes the numerous bodies 

 of water between the ocean and the mouth of 

 the Hudson River, from Sandy Hook to the 

 Battery, New York City. The narrows between 

 Staten Island and the western tip of Long Is- 

 land divide the Bay into Lower New York Bay 

 and Upper New York Bay. This area resembles 

 an equilateral triangle with 15-mile sides. In 

 1896 shad were taken in the Lower Bay, in the 

 Narrows between Long Island and Staten Island, 

 in the Upper Bay, and in Gravesend Bay at the 

 extreme upper end of the Lower Bay. The shad 

 season usually began in March or April and 

 continued until mid- May or the first of June. 



The 1896 and 1960 fisheries are described in 

 the following subsections. 



Lower Bay .- -The 1896 fishery was limited 

 to four pound nets operated on the shore of 

 Staten Island between Elmtree Beacon and 

 Fort Tompkins Light. These nets were set 

 separately in 12 to 15 ft, of water. The esti- 

 mated catch was 56,735 lb. 



Gravesend Bay .-- This fishery was repre- 

 sented in 1896 by two large pound nets and two 

 rows of fyke nets. Each of the fykes had five 

 14-ft. hoops with two funnels to the net. Pound 

 nets caught 6,628 lb. and fyke nets 19,459 lb. 



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