124 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



was about the same as in 1880. The total cateli of shad in the New 

 England States in 1880 was 2,117,392 pounds, having a value of $88,730, 

 Of this quantity, 580,319 pounds were taken in Maine, 0,117 pounds in 

 New Hampshire, 101,521 pounds in Massachusetts, 48,100 pounds in 

 Rhode Island, and 1,318,032 pounds in Connecticut. The difference 

 between the output in 1880 and 1892 was 979,001 pounds, valued at 

 $15,003. In Maine the increase, amounting" to 288,051 pounds, or about 

 50 per cent, was chiefly in the Kennebec River, and in Connecticut the 

 decreased output, 1,207,170 pounds, or 92 per cent, was mostly in the 

 Connecticut River. 



The failure of the shad fishery of Connecticut River is one of the 

 most noteworthy changes in the condition of the New England river 

 fisheries in recent years. During the first half of the present century 

 this was, next to the Potomac, doubtless the principal shad stream 

 in the United States. The decline in the fishery dates from and may be 

 definitely traced to the erection of a dam at Hadley Falls, Massachu- 

 setts, in 1848. A steady annual decrease in the catch was thereafter 

 reported up to 18G8, but as late as 1807 the output of the river was 

 G28,500 shad. In 1SG9 and 1870 the effects of artificial propagation, 

 first undertaken in 1807, were manifested and large numbers of people 

 who had abandoned the fishery resumed operations; these carried on 

 their business without regard for restrictions, and the supply again 

 became exhausted and has since shown an almost unbroken annual 

 decrease for twenty years, the decline being facilitated by overfishing, 

 the interception of larger numbers of fish at or near the mouth of the 

 river by means of nets, the pollution of the water by sewage and fac- 

 tory refuse, and the construction of jetties at the mouth of the river by 

 which the migrating fish have been diverted to other streams. 



The following table, compiled from the reports of the Connecticut 

 and Massachusetts Fish Commissions, shows the number of shad taken 

 in the Connecticut River in each of those States in a series of years. 

 The figures for Massachusetts are fully as suggestive as those for Con- 

 necticut. The relatively large catch shown for that State in 1881 was 

 due to a reduction from 5 inches to 2 inches in the size of the mesh 

 permitted to be used in nets; this resulted in a greatly increased yield, 

 consisting chiefly of small fish, and was immediately followed by an 

 inordinately small catch. 



Statement of the number of shad taken in the Connecticut River during a series of years. 



