REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 123 



the last field inquiries. Some brief descriptive notes on each of the fore- 

 going branches will be presented, supplemented by general statistics. 



The shad fishery. — While the shad is found along- the entire New 

 England coast, it is only in Maine and Connecticut that regular fishing 

 for this fish is carried on; in all of the other States except New Hamp- 

 shire, however, considerable quantities of shad are taken incidentally 

 and add to the income of the fishermen. In Maine the shad ranks next 

 to the smelt in value among the river fishes, and in Connecticut it is 

 the most important anadromous species. 



The principal part of the shad catch in Maine is taken in the Kenne- 

 bec River and Caseo Bay. In Connecticut, the Connecticut and Housa- 

 tonic rivers yield most of the supply. The bulk of the shad credited 

 to Massachusetts is obtained in pound nets in Barnstable County; 

 larger or smaller quantities are, however, taken each year by mackerel 

 vessels using purse seines. The shad caught in Rhode Island are 

 mostly secured in pound nets set in Narragansett Bay. 



The number of persons using apparatus set primarily for shad in the 

 New England States in 1892 was 570; of these, 454 were in Maine and 

 11 G in Connecticut; 177 fishermen used gill nets, 358 pound nets or 

 weirs, and 35 seines; in Maine the gill-net fishermen numbered 96 and 

 the pound-net fishermen 358. Shad fishing in Connecticut was carried 

 on by 35 seine fishermen and 81 gill-net fishermen. 



The apparatus employed especially for shad in Maine consisted of 

 365 gill nets, valued at $3,425, and 156 pound nets, valued at $13,280. 

 In Connecticut, the shad apparatus comprised 12 seines, worth $675, and 

 46 gill nets, having a value of $2,312. The boats used in connection 

 with the foregoing apparatus numbered 55, and were valued at $2,095. 



The catch of shad in apparatus set especially for that fish was 

 939,110 pounds, valued at $34,948, of which quantity 850,150 pounds. 

 worth $27,192, were taken in Maine, and 88,960 pounds, worth $7,756, 

 in Connecticut. The yield of the different kinds of apparatus in each 

 State was as follows: Pound nets, 669,450 pounds, $19,590 (all in 

 Maine); seines, 17,252 pounds, $1,704 (all in Connecticut); gill nets, 

 180,700 pounds, $7,602, in Maine; 71,708 pounds, $6,052,in Connecticut. 

 The catch of the regular shad fishermen was greatly augmented by 

 the take of persons using apparatus set primarily for other fish. Thus, 

 in Maine, pound nets took 17,420 pounds, valued at $789, and gill nets 

 1,400 pounds, $70; in Massachusetts, pound nets caught 48,382 pounds, 

 $2,409; purse seines (operated from mackerel vessels) 79,300 pounds, 

 $1,986; haul seines, 6,827 pounds, $410; in Rhode Island, pound nets 

 secured 24,350 pounds, $776; in Connecticut, pound nets yielded 21,602 

 pounds, $1,679. 



Considered in the aggregate, the New England shad fishery has 

 declined since 1880. An analysis of the statistics shows that in Maine 

 the catch has decidedly increased and that in Connecticut the decrease 

 has been noticeable. In New Hampshire and Rhode Island there has 

 also been a marked decline, while in Massachusetts the output in 1892 



