SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 249 



Island Sound will be described in the chapter on the sliad fisheries of 

 Connecticut. 



In the pound nets at tlie eastern end of the sound on the Sulfoilc 

 County shore, between Orient Point and Ilortou Point, a few shad are 

 taken incidentally with other species. These nets run out from the 

 shore into I'O or M) feet of water, one net beinji; the usual number to the 

 string-. In 189r» there were 14 i)ound nets in this locality, and the catch 

 of shad numbered 210 roes and 300 bucks, valued at $115. 



Xisscqitiu/ue River. — Westward of Horton Point no shad are taken 

 on the southern shore of Long Island Sound until Nissequague Kiver 

 is reached. This is a small sandhill stream extending from Smith- 

 town Bay for several miles into the interior. While shad have been 

 caught in this stream for a number of years, yet fisheries have been 

 prosecuted only during the past two or three years. The fisheries 

 were most extensive in 189G, when drift nets were operated at various 

 times, catching 1,250 shad from May 1 to May 13. On the night of 

 May 13 lishing was stopped by the local authorities, the twine being 

 destroyed and arrests made of a number of the fishermen. After that 

 date many of the fishermen engaged in taking shad by the means of 

 spears, it being easier to elude arrest when so engaged than when using 

 a drift net. 



The number caught by spears from May 13 to the end of the season, 

 about June 12, approximated 182, over half of which were roes. This 

 made a total of 1,738 shad taken in the Nissequague in 1890. If the 

 operations of the fishermen had not been interfered with the yield for 

 the season might possibly have approached 5,000. 



Little Xeck Bay. — This bay is quite shallow and covers only 2 or 3 

 square miles. Strictly speaking, it is not a tributary of Long Island 

 Sound, but rather of East Eiver, and it is claimed that the shad enter 

 this body of water by way of East River and the Narrows and not 

 through Long Island Sound. Seasons of scarcity in Little Xeck Bay 

 are usually coincident with those in Xew York Bay and Hudson River, 

 and not with those in the Connecticut. Shad have been taken in Little 

 Neck Bay each season for many years, the principal apparatus employed 

 being pound nets, which are set from April 15 to about June 10. In 

 1800 there were nets used, worth $1,430, but the yield of shad was 

 unusually small, numbering only 770 roes and 873 bucks, for which the 

 fishermen received $529. One pound net, which in 1890 caught only 

 29 shad, yielded 1,154 in 1895, and prior to 1890 the average annual 

 catch was about 2,000 for each net. A single gill net was used in this 

 bay in 1890. This net was 700 yards in length, and the catch numbered 

 92 roe shad and 30 bucks, valued at $40, making a total of 1,777 shad, 

 worth $575, taken in this body of water. 



