256 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



From the preceding statement it appears that during the six years 

 following 1878 the shad yield aggregated 1,726,305; during the succeed- 

 ing six years it was 538,516, and during the six years ending in 1896 

 only 185,447 shad were taken in the Connecticut. The alleged reasons 

 for the continued decrease are summed up as follows: (1) The erection 

 of jetties at the mouth of the river, resulting in a change of the current 

 flowing therefrom through Long Island Sound ; (2) pollution of water by 

 sewage and refuse from manufactories along the shore; (3) overfish- 

 ing, and (4) the erection of dams across the stream, thereby preventing 

 the fish from ascending to the spawning-beds. It is questionable 

 whether the first named factor has had any effect on the abundance of 

 shad. The jetties deflect the current only slightly from its natural 

 course, and should the shad not run up the Connecticut they would 

 doubtless appear in increased numbers at other points in Long Island 

 Sound, which does not seem to have been the case. 



The second factor has undoubtedly had a very deleterious effect on 

 the fisheries. That the sanitary conditions of the Connecticut are un- 

 favorable to the i'xistence of shad admits of no doubt, the sewage from 

 the cities and the acid refuse from the numerous factories on the shores 

 of the stream so polluting the water as to make it unfavorable to the 

 existence of animal life therein. Especially is this the case during the 

 summer months, when the young fish are in the river, the water becom- 

 ing so tainted with acids and refuse that the surface is frequently 

 spotted with dead fish. While the extensive fisheries have doubtless 

 materially assisted in bringing about the present depleted condition of 

 the Connecticut, yet they have merely hastened the work that would 

 eventually be accomplished by the dams and the unsanitary state of the 

 water, even if no fisheries existed. The most objectionable development 

 of recent years is the concentration of the fisheries near the mouth of 

 the river, nearly all the fish being caught before they have reached the 

 spawning grounds, thus reducing natural reproduction to almost an 

 insignificant factor in keeping up the supply. It is apparent that the 

 future of the Connecticut River shad fisheries is far more depcndont on 

 artificial proi)agation than has been the case in the past. But there i£ 



