THE FISHERIES OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER. 665 
Catch of a pound-net at mouth of Connecticut River. 
Number 
Year. of shad. Remarks. 
cI 
1856 8,643 | The location of the pound was not 
1857 5, 183 changed during the period for which 
, the records are given. FS 
1858 6,111 
1859 8, 000 
1860 6, 000 
1861 6, 180 
1862 6, 858 
1863 10, 730 
1864 | 12,265 
1865 9, 410 
1866 10, 594 
1867 12, 500 
1868 18, 000 
1s69 | 11,000 
1870 16, 558 
1871 | 18,508 
1872 8, 271 
Laws permitted fishing but three 
1878 7, 348 days i each week. ‘ 
1874 9, 290 
1875 20, 037 
1876 11, 041 
1877 10, 465 
1878 4,650 | 1878. Nets destroyed by jellyfish. A 
1879 49.175 good run of shad, but impossible to 
. continue pound fishing after the 5th 
1880 18, 275 of May, for the reason stated. 
Aggregate catch for the ten years from 1856 to 1865, inclusive ...........0.scs--escceeecesccesceconees 69, 375 
AVORdee CALC POF BONBON eae ensue scapes veenee cesme menses cneens tenn ween eetiene ean weeneonee Renna 6, 937 
Aggregate catch for the ten years from 1866 to 1875, Inclusive ......-..-------cnncessceceeecennccnnnces 122, 101 
Average catch per 80ASOD . 2.2... 2. cen cen cee cee m ee renee cnenenceeees snncewsnennncnanns sonceeccuseuecs 12, 210 
Aggregate catch for the five years from 1876 to 1880........c00cecnccccccnsscccce serene sceaneccccnnee 58, 506 
Average catch per SCRSON ........c nee cece ne cece ew cmn nen cc cn es ceceen rectenccnccacenanseenssemacesucnes nn, 701 
The above table shows the average increase of catch in pound-nets since their introduction 
in place of hauling seines. The first pound-net set for shad in Westbrook was in the year 1849. 
In the early shad fisheries of the Connecticut River haul-seines were mainly employed. 
This mode of fishing involved a considerable outlay of capital for their equipment and operation. 
Gradually gill-nets supplanted haul-seines, and, on account of the unproductiveness of the latter, 
came into more general use. These again were supplanted to a great extent by the introduction 
of pound-nets, which, as the law prohibited their being set in the river itself, occupied every 
available position along the shores of the sound from the mouth of the river to a distance of some 
6 or 8 miles west. Practically, however, these nets are in the river itself, being so placed as to 
-intercept the run of the shad. It is curious to note that these pound-nets are exclusively set on 
the west side of the mouth of the river; and in response to inquiry as to why this was so, the 
information was given that shad could not be taken in any large numbers on the east side of the 
river’s mouth. This would indicate that the shad run up the shore line from west to east, which 
conclusion has led to the inferences that the fish enter Long Island Sound at its extreme western 
end, and also that the shad of the Connecticut, the Hudson, and, of course, of the minor streams 
lying between these two rivers, are detachments of the same schools of fish. 
" ')HE ALEWIFE FISHERY.—The alewife fisheries are insignificant, and are operated only in 
several coves along the river’s banks, the law prohibiting nets from being fished in the main 
stream, Conspicuous among these fisheries is that conducted at Weathersfield Cove, by Mr. 
