REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXV 



ligu re and diagram illustrating tlie construction of tkese two forms of 

 apparatus, as also in the special article on modes of capturing fish. 



Tlie pounds and weirs are adapted not only for taking, but many of 

 them for retaining, the fish until it is convenient to remove them, need- 

 ing no watching to prevent their escape. These are of various con- 

 strnction, depending upon the depth of the water, the tide, the nature 

 of the shore, the kind of fisli to be taken, &c. The most common form 

 on the south side of New England consists of a fence of netting, ex- 

 tending from the shore, and nearly perpendicular to it, for a distance of 

 50 or 100 fathoms or more, as the circumstances may reqnire. The 

 outer end of this straight fence or wall is carried into a heart-shaped 

 fence of netting, the apex of which is connected with a circular "bowl'' 

 of network, the bottom of which lies upon the ground, at a depth of 

 20 to 30 feet. The fish, in their movement along the coast, first strike 

 against the fence of netting and are directed outward, following the 

 fence or "leader" along until they reach the end, which, of course, 

 brings them within the " heart." Here they wander around for a time, 

 their only easy avenue for escape being through the apex into the 

 " bowl," and in which when entered they continually circle about with- 

 out ever finding the outlet. It is a peculiarity of fishes in their move- 

 ments, especially when in schools, that they do not turn a sharp corner, 

 but move around in curves; and the nets in question are so arranged 

 that the curves they are likely to take never bring them toward an 

 avenue of escape, but rather tend to conduct them farther within. 



The "weirs" differ from the " pounds " principally in being constructed^ 

 in whole or in part, of brush or of narrow boards, with or without net- 

 ting; and they are sometiines so arranged tbat at low tide a sandbar 

 cuts oif the escape of the fish, leaving them in a basin inside, allowing 

 them to be taken at any time before a certain stage of rise of the next 

 tide. The variety of these modes of capture is very great, and I have 

 given in the appendix a description of the forms best known, accom- 

 panied by the figures necessary for their illustration, and to these would 

 refer for further information.* 



^Oathe map accompanying this report I have marked the traps and pounds in 

 operation in 1871, on the south side of New England, east of Point Judith, as far as I 

 was able to ascertain their existence. Information concerning those in Rhode Island was 

 furnished by J. M. K. South wick. . Notices of those farther east were, for the most 

 part, supplied by Captain Edwards, supplemented .by my own observations. To 

 Captain Prince Crowell I am indebted for a list of the weirs in Cape Cod Bay, repre- 

 sented on a separate ma]). I also give a separate sketch of Seaconnet Point, showing 

 the peculiarities of arrangement of the traps in that region. 



According to Mr. Southwick, there were in Narragansett Bay, in 1871, twenty 

 pound or heart nets, of which the map represents eight on Couauicut Island, 

 and eight on Rhode Island. There were sixteen traps — seven on Rhode Island and 

 nine at Seaconnet Point. Seven of the latter indeed are double, each countfng as 

 two, makiug twenty-three, or a total of forty-three. But few of these were fished 

 after the middle of June. 



In Buzzard's Bay and on the Elizabeth Islands the pounds were as follows : One at 



