262 



REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



on the small vessels, caught a few shad in 189G, their entire yield being 

 3,040, which sold for $95. 



Occasionally Provincetown boats catch some shad while se iiing for 

 mackerel. In 1896 the steamer Cormorant, 4.8L net tonnage, made 

 three hauls of shad, one each on June 6, 7, and 9, catching 9,080, which 

 were sold fresh at 5 cents each. 



The pound nets and weirs set in Cape Cod Bay catch a few shad, the 

 number taken ranging upward to 50 or more to each net. In 1896 

 85 nets set in this bay took 1,745 shad, valued at about $300. 



Comparatively few of the trap nets set in Massachusetts Bay catch 

 shad; in 1896 only 5 are reported as having taken this species, the total 

 yield being 170, worth $17. 



MERRIMAC RIVER. 



The sources of the Merrimac are in eastern central New Hampshire, 

 the main stream being formed by the Junction of the Pemigewasset 

 and Winnipesaukee rivers, on the line of Belknap and Merrimac coun- 

 ties, whence it flows 110 miles to its entrance into the sea near New- 

 buryport. The head of navigation for coasting vessels is a few miles 

 above Haverhill, but small river boats ascend as far as Lawrence. At 

 Lawrence the stream is crossed oblicjiiely by a substantial dam 32 feet 

 high and 900 feet long, at the south end of which is a wooden fishway, 

 the whole being completed in 1848 at a cost of about $250,000. At 

 Lowell, 12 miles above Lawrence, there is a second dam about 30 feet 

 high, built in 1830 and enlarged in 1876. A third dam exists at Man- 

 chester, N, H., constructed in 1871, its length being 420 feet audits 

 height about 12 feet. There are three other dams on the river above 

 Manchester, viz, at Hooksett, Garvin Palls, and Sewell Palls. 



Previous to the erection of these obstructions there were large runs 

 of shad and other anadromous tish into and up the Merrimac. It is 

 claimed that at the junction of the two head tributaries, the Pemige- 

 wasset and the Winnii)esaukee, the shad and salmon separated, the 

 former following the eastern branch into Lake Winnipesaukee, while 

 the latter ascended the colder waters of the Pemigewasset, penetrating 

 its source in the White Mountains. 



In a report' of special commissioners of Massachusetts, appointed in 

 1865, "concerning the obstructions to the passage of tish in the Con- 

 necticut and Merrimac rivers," the following ai)proximation of the yield 

 of shad in the Merrimac is given : 



' Report of the Couimissiouers, Senate, No. 8, 1866, p. 39. 



