298 



GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



18 r <9 no scnp appeared until the middle of July, when millions came; these were too small for 

 market. As at other places, tho men go menhaden fishing when trap-fishing is over. 



In 1879 the trap at Sachnest Beach stocked about $200; the one at the "Wash Bowl" about 

 $1,200. The greater part of the combined catch was shipped to Philadelphia and sold at 50 to 75 

 cents a barrel. 



97. THE FISHERIES OF NEWPORT. 



PRESENT CONDITION or THE FISHERIES OF NEWPORT. The fishing business of Newport is 

 confined chiefly to fresh fish, and is carried on by ten firms. The catch is mostly during April, 

 May, and June, being principally scup. Later in the season bluefish, mackerel, squeteagne, bass, 

 and some other fish are caught. Lobsters are taken at all seasons and of all sizes. 



Fifty small cat-rigged boats arc used by the local fishermen in the near waters of Narragansett 

 Bay and Long Island Sound, fishing more or less of the time until November, after which the 

 season may be considered over until April. The leading catch by these small boats is lobsters, 

 which are caught in the 1,500 pots set about the islands of the bay and Long Island Sound. 

 Tautog, bluefish, squeteague, bass, and eels, with a less amount of many other species, are included 

 in the catch of the boats. These are taken by hand-lines and nets. The largest part of the fish 

 which are marketed or shipped from here are taken by "heart pounds and square netted traps." 

 There arc twenty-five heart and eight square traps set in this vicinity about Newport, Conauicut, 

 and Prudence Islands. These traps and pounds are located as follows: 



The square traps are put down the last of April, and usually taken up about the first of June, 

 being anchored in from 4 to 7 fathoms of water, with a leader from the shore from 100 to 150 

 fathoms long. The heart pounds are put down at the same time, the twine being fastened to small 

 piles driven into the ground, in from 25 to 35 feet of water. A small part of them are fished until 

 October, but most of them only during the spring and early summer. In case the heart-pound is 

 located on rocky bottom, the poles are held in place by cast-iron "feet" weighing 500 pounds each. 

 These are cast for the purpose, are of circular form, with a hole in the center for the water. In 

 working a square trap eight men to each are usually employed. The heart trap, when used single, 

 has three men. When two or three heart-traps arc fished by one finn, being set near one another, a 

 single team of three to five men will tend them. The catch from these thirty-three traps during 

 1880 amounted to 4,185,300 pounds of eatable fish, five-sixths of which were scup. This amount of 

 fish was distributed as follows: New York received three-sixths ; Philadelphia, two-sixths; Provi- 

 dence, the near inland cities and local trade, one-sixth. Oue-third of the New York and Philadel- 



