318 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
nearly related to the former and is regarded by fishermen as a type of fyke. The 
apparatus consists of ten or more individual traps set in one line and connected by 
leaders. Bach trap is composed of two bowed pieces of wood, forming the ends, over 
which the netting is placed. It is flat on the bottom, and is 3 feet long, 18 inches 
deep, and 2 feet wide at the base. A funnel is placed in one end of the trap. Two 
such nets are set facing each other at the ends of a leader 15 feet in length, and four 
or more with their entrances in the same direction as the first net are added to each 
end, with short leaders intervening. The entire string is kept in position by being 
anchored at the two ends with stone weights. Such nets are usually set in shallow 
water, but a buoy is used to mark their position. They are reputed to be very effective 
in the capture of flatfish. A series of ten nets when new is worth $15. 
The principal reason assigned for the decrease in the number of fykes used in 
this State in recent years is the scarcity of the fish sought. As the fishery entails 
considerable exposure to cold and inclement weather, there is little inducement to 
continue the business if fish are not reasonably abundant. The scarcity of ice for a 
number of years prior to 1892-93 was also unfavorable to the development of this 
fishery. The increase in pound nets, which has been marked, has also tended to 
diminish fishing with related forms of apparatus. 
CONNECTICUT. 
As already shown, the fyke-net fishery of Connecticut is more important than 
that of any other Hew England State. Compared with 1880, the fishery seems to have 
about doubled in extent, judging by the number of nets used, although there are no 
data for 1880 on which to base a comparison of the catch and stock. The average 
value of the nets, however, seems to have decreased. In 1880, the number of fykes 
reported for the State was 255, valued at $2,480; in 1889 the number was 440, worth 
$2,230. 
Fyke-net fishing is carried on along most parts of the coast of this State. All the 
prominent towns have more or less fishing of this kind. The largest number of nets 
is found in Ston'ington, Quiambog, Mystic, Hoank, and Hew London. The distribu- 
tion of the fykes in 1S89 was as follows : 
Towns. 
No. of 
nets. 
Towns. 
No. of 
nets. 
Ston on 
64 
Branford 
7 
Quiambog 
110 
Milford 
10 
Mystic 
32 
Stratford 
20 
Noank 
68 
Southport 
Poquonoc 
21 
Norwalk 
5 
Now London 
54 
7 
Niantic 
15 
Stamford 
5 
Saybrook 
21 
1 
The fish now taken in the fyke nets of Connecticut are principally flounders, 
frostfish, tautog, menhaden, and striped bass. In a few places terrapin are taken, and 
in Stratford these are much more valuable than the remaining part of the catch. In 
1880 the species reported to be caught in fyke nets were sea bass, cod, bluefish, eels, 
weakfish, flounders, herring, shad, and occasionally sturgeon. At Mystic the nets 
are set about February 1 and taken up about March 31 ; they are again set about 
October 1 and remain down until December 31. Flatfish and frostfish are taken. 
At Hoank, the nets are fished from the first of February to the last of April, and 
