ON INLAND FISHERIES. 9 



of the Island of Rhode Island or at Seaconnet. All the ti-aps are so 

 set as to take the fish as they come from the west in every instance. 

 Now it would seem as if we must depend on the fish to stock Narra- 

 gansett Bay, to find their way thereto by the east and west passages 

 so called; that is on both sides of the island of Conanicut, the west 

 passage being one and three-quarter miles wide, and the east upwards 

 of two. Passing east of Breuton's Reef their only chance to reach our 

 bay is through the draws of the old stone bridge at Tiverton and the 

 railroad bridge a mile above, said draws being about forty feet wide 

 with a terrible tide save at slack water. All this seems to prove that 

 the tend of the scup along our coast in the spring is from west to east, 

 for in brief the traps west of Point Judith take them first, those near 

 Newport next, and those at Seaconnet last. 



That the number of fish has decreased in the bay for the past 

 twenty years is a fact admitted by every one unless entirely prejudiced, 

 and which branch of wholesale fishing (traps and heart nets) is the 

 most to blame for, this we shall endeavor to point out. 



As stated previously the trapping season lasts from, say the 1st of 

 May to the 30th of June, during that time not only scup are taken but 

 large quantities of tautog and rock bass. All these fish come in from 

 the deeper and warmer water off the coast where they have wintered, 

 to deposit their spawn in the shoaler water as soon as the tempera- 

 ture of this shoal water is proper in early summer, and for every 

 fish taken before the spawn is deposited tens of thousands are de- 

 stroyed. So far as the scup are concerned, if they are to be taken 

 in a wholesale manner they must be taken at this time, for the 

 great shoals break up and scatter as soon as tlie actual spawning 

 time arrives and can only be taken with hook and line thereafter. 

 A careful record kept of the spawn of scup, as it was developed last 

 season, shows that none was found in fish taken after tlie 27th of June, 

 and we may assume as a fact after July 1st the spawning season is 

 over; the same may be said to apply to a very large percentage of the 

 tautog. Now the cry has been raised that the trappers take the tautog 

 in the spawning season, so in truth they do, and so do the hook and line 



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