112 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
37.— CATCH OF SHAH IN CONNECTICUT FOB 1887. 
Aiy ROBERT B. CHALKER. 
The statistics of the catch of shad for the year 1887 in the State of 
Connecticut are as follows : 
POUND FISHERIES. 
From the mouth of the Connecticut River to New Haven Harbor : 
15 traps in Saybrook 26, 700 
21 traps in Westbrook 26,600 
10 traps in Clinton... 8,650 
18 traps in Madison 1, 800 
7 traps in Guilford 1, 500 
8 traps in Branford 2, 000 
5 traps in East Haven 4, 000 
Total shore fisheries 71,250 
RIVER FISHERIES. 
Thames River 27 
Connecticut River and tributaries : 
Hauling-seines — 10,100 
Gill-nets 13,900 
Quinepiac River, hauling-seines 2, 500 
Housatonic River : 
Hauling-seines 8, 400 
Stake-nets 4, 000 
Total river fisheries 38,927 
Total catch of shad in the State 110, 177 
The past spring was a time of remarkably calm weather, as there was 
not a day during the fishing season when the Sound fishermen could 
not haul their nets. The run of shad was about the same each day, 
none of the usual large hauls being made. The fish were of uniform 
size and of very fine quality. 
The first shad was caught April 18 in the Connecticut River, 5 miles 
from the mouth. The season closed suddenly about June 12, fifteen 
days earlier than usual. 
The falling off in the catch is very great every year in all the waters 
of the State, but it is most marked in the Thames River. Formerly the 
fishermen would sometimes take 2,000 shad at a haul. It has decreased 
in a few years, so that now the total catch reported for the last two 
years has been but 45 and 27 respectively. 
Saybrook, Conn., September 24, 1887, 
