The Housatonic's main tributary, the Nauga- 

 tuck River, enters the river below the Derby 

 Dam. James P. Galligan, Connecticut State 

 Board of Fisheries and Game, Hartford, Conn, 

 (personal communication dated June 28, 1960), 

 reported that because of raw sewage and in- 

 dustrial wastes, the Naugatuck is one of the 

 most polluted streams in Connecticut. No shad 

 were taken in this river in 1896 or 1960. 



Bridgeport Harbor and Pine Creek 



In 1896, 3,779 lb. of shad were taken in the 

 harbor of Bridgeport, Conn., 3 miles west of 

 the Housatonic River, and 2,114 lb. weretaken 

 in Pine Creek and other areas between Bridge- 

 port and Stamford, Conn. 



No shad were reported in 1960 inany stream 

 in this area. There were, however, reports 

 that shad taken in several streams between 

 New Haven, Conn., and the mouth of the Con- 

 necticut River. Two were collected in the 

 Farm River at the outlet of Lake Saltonstall 

 by personnel of the Connecticut State Board 

 of Fisheries and Game. An occasional fish 

 was caught by sport fishermen in theBranford 

 River near Branford, Conn., in the Hammon- 

 asset River, and in the Menumketesuck River, 



TRENDS IN PRODUCTION 



Statistics are available on the commercial 

 shad catch in Connecticut waters for certain 

 years from 1887 to 1960 (table 48). During 

 this period, catch fluctuated from 46,000 lb. 

 in 1923 to 1,146,000 lb. in 1946. Average an- 

 nual catches during different periods were 

 279,000 lb. in 1887-1911, 193,000 in 1912-36, 

 and 463,000 in 1937-60. In 1937-60, except 

 for 1944-48 when the highest catches on rec- 

 ord were made, the catch remained between 



Table 48. --Shad catch for certain years, Connecticut, I887-1960l 

 [In thousands of pounds] 



1 Statistics 1887-1959, U. S. Fish Commission, U. S. Bureau of 

 Fisheries, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



2 Does not Include catch by sport fishery. 



Catch converted from numbers to pounds by factor of 3.5 from 

 table prepared by Douglas D. Moss, Connecticut State Board of 

 Fisheries and Game. 



200,000 and 550,000 lb. The commercial yield 

 was 62 percent greater in 1960 than in 1896. 



Except for a few fish taken in Long Island 

 Sound, only the Connecticut River has pro- 

 duced shad in recent years. Destruction of 

 the fishery in other areas has been attributed 

 to the construction of dams near river mouths 

 and to pollution (Stevenson, 1899). Fredin ( 1954) 

 found that overfishing was the major cause for 

 fluctuations in the Connecticut River catch. 



SHAD FISHERIES OF RHODE ISLAND 



Except in the Warren River, the 1896 catch 

 of shad in Rhode Island was taken by gears 

 used for other species. The catch in 1896 was 

 52,761 lb. of which about 8 percent came from 

 pound nets fished along the ocean shore, 16 

 percent from pound nets fished in Narragan- 

 sett Bay, and 76 percent from pound nets and 

 miscellaneous gear in tributaries of the Bay 

 (table 49). 



Table 49. — Shad catch, by water area and gear, Rhode Island, 1896 

 [In pounds] 



Shad were taken in 1960 incidental to the 

 catch of other species. The total catch 

 was 3,163 lb., all caught in floating traps 

 fished in the ocean near Narragansett Bay 

 (fig. 25). 



FISHERIES BY WATER AREA 



The shad taken off the coast in Rhode Island 

 in 1960 probably were not native. The following 

 discussion, therefore, concerns primarily the 

 1896 fisheries. 



Atlantic Ocean 



Fourteen pound nets between Watch Hill and 

 Point Judith, R.I., and four pound nets fished 

 near Block Island, R.I., caught shad during the 

 spring of 1896. The combined catch in these 



82 



