SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 249 



Island Sound will be described in the chapter on the shad fisheries of 

 Connecticut. 



In the pound nets at the eastern end of the sound on the Suffolk 

 County shore, between Orient Point and Horton Point, a few shad are 

 taken incidentally with other species. These nets run out from the 

 shore into 20 or 30 feet of water, one net being the usual number to the 

 string. In 1890 there were 14 pound nets in this locality, and the catch 

 of shad numbered 210 roes and 306 bucks, valued at $145. 



Xissequague River. — Westward of Horton Point no shad are taken 

 on the southern shore of Long Island Sound until Nissequague River 

 is reached. This is a small sand-hill stream extending from Smith- 

 town Bay for several miles into the interior. While shad have been 

 caught in this stream for a number of years, yet fisheries have been 

 prosecuted only during the past two or three years. The fisheries 

 were most extensive in 1896, when drift nets were operated at various 

 times, catching 1,256 shad from May 1 to May 13. On the night of 

 May 13 fishing was stopped by the local authorities, the twine being 

 destroyed and arrests made of a number of the fishermen. After that 

 date many of the fishermen engaged in taking shad by the means of 

 spears, it being easier to elude arrest when so engaged than when using 

 a drift net. 



The number caught by spears from May 13 to the end of the season, 

 about June 12, approximated 482, over half of which were roes. This 

 made a total of 1,738 shad taken in the Nissequague in 1896. If the 

 operations of the fishermen had not been interfered with the yield for 

 the season might possibly have approached 5,000. 



Little Keck Bay. — This bay is quite shallow and covers only 2 or 3 

 square miles. Strictly speaking, it is not a tributary of Long Island 

 Sound, but rather of East River, and it is claimed that the shad enter 

 this body of water by way of Bast River and the Narrows and not 

 through Long Island Sound. Seasons of scarcity in Little Neck Bay 

 are usually coincident with those in New York Bay and Hudson River, 

 and not with those in the Connecticut. Shad have been taken in Little 

 Neck Bay each season for many years, the principal apparatus employed 

 being pound nets, which are set from April 15 to about June 10. In 

 1896 there were 6 nets used, worth $1,430, but the yield of shad was 

 unusually small, numbering only 776 roes and 873 bucks, for which the 

 fishermen received $529. One pound net, which in 1896 caught only 

 29 shad, yielded 1,154 in 1895, and prior to 1890 the average annual 

 catch was about 2,000 for each net. A single gill net was used in this 

 bay in 1896. This net was 760 yards in length, and the catch numbered 

 92 roe shad and 36 bucks, valued at $46, making a total of 1,777 shad, 

 worth $575, taken in this body of water. 



