266 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



age was 3,120 per year. In 1867 the catch of shad by 40 weirs, several 

 seines, and an unknown number of drift nets was 180,000. In 1880, 



44 weirs, 2 seines, and GO or more drift nets took 105,000 shad. At 

 present the shad fisheries of Kennebec River are the most important 

 on the Atlantic coast north of Hudson River, and the yield is greater 

 than in all the remaining waters of the New England States. They 

 extend from the mouth of the river nearly to Augusta, the forms of 

 apparatus employed being weirs and drift nets. The catch in 189G by 

 the weirs numbered 205,542 and by drift nets 45,787, making a total of 

 251,329, valued at $22,806. The yield of shad in 1867 was estimated 

 at 225,000, of which 200,000 were taken in weirs and 25,000 in other 

 forms of apparatus. 



The weir fishery is carried on in the Kennebec chiefly between Ice- 

 boro, about 3 miles above Swan Island, and the Chopps, a narrow part 

 of the river below Swan Island. In addition thereto there are a few 

 weirs in the vicinity of South Gardiner and 3 or 4 in the lower part of 

 the river below Bath. In Merrymeeting Bay there are numerous weirs, 

 and a number in Eastern and Androscoggin rivers, which enter the 

 Kennebec at Merrymeeting Bay. The following description of these 

 weirs is furnished by Mr. Ansley Hall : 



In form of construction these weirs are similar to the ordinary pound nets, but 

 they are operated on the principle of brush weirs. They cost from $10 to $40 each, 

 according to their size. Instead of lifting them to remove the fish a seine of IJ-inch 

 mesh is need for that purpose. The seine has a staff at each end and is furnished 

 with purse lines. It is about 25 feet in length and varies in width according to the 

 depth of the water in the weir in which used. If two or more adjacent weirs are 

 of about the same size and depth, one seine may be used for them all; otherwise 

 there is a seine for each weir. The leader of each weir consists of stakes driven 

 about 18 inches apart and interwoven at the top with maple sprouts or brush to 

 form a sort of binder for support. Where the tide is unusually strong large stakes 

 are driven a short distance fjom the leader stakes and the leader guyed to them 

 with lines. The length of the leaders varies according to the width of the river, but 

 where the stream is of sufficient width it is 100 feet or more, but it is usually from 

 50 to 100 feet. From a point near the shore, where the water is about 2 feet deep at 

 low tide, the leader may be extended a distance not greater than one-eighth of the 

 width of the river channel. The weir has three pounds, viz, the big or pasture 

 pound, the second pound, and the hsh pound. The big pound is at the end of the 

 leader and the other two are always on the down-river side of the big pound. The 

 depth of water in which the pounds are located varies from 18 to 30 feet at low 

 water, but is ordinarily about 22 feet, except in Merrymeeting Bay and the tribu- 

 tary streams, where the depth is less. The stakes forming the pound are from 20 to 



45 feet in length, depending on the depth of water. They are driven 3 or 4 feet 

 apart and twine with 2i or 3 inch mesh is hung on the outside of them, this twine 

 being sufficiently deep to extend about 1 foot above the surface at high water. 

 An iron chain is attached to the lower edge of the twine to keep it close to the 

 bottom of the river. The principal part of each pound is made with a single piece 

 of netting. The length of the netting in the big pound is from 140 to 145 feet, in the 

 second pound about 100 feet, and in the fish pound from 135 to 140 feet. Small stakes 

 are driven outside the twine and bound to the large stakes with cords at intervals 

 as far down as practicable, thus serving to hold the twine in place. The weir is 

 braced by guy lines made fast to piles (known as "pointers") driven on the upper side 

 of the big pound. The cost of a completed weir varies from $100 to $800, averaging 

 perhaps $200. 



