FYKE NETS AND FYKE-NET FISHERIES. 
319 
from tlie first of Oct "'ter to the middle of December. The principal fishing, however, 
is done in the spring. The nets are placed in water 6 to 15 feet deep. In Groton 
the fykes are operated at the mouths of the rivers during June and July, and within 
the rivers during the rest of the year ; flounders and frostflsh are secured. The 
largest catch is made in Quiambog, where the greatest number of nets is used. Here 
nearly 140,000 pounds of flounders, frostflsh, and tautog, valued at $2,550, were 
obtained in 1889. Seven nets at Branford were fished for menhaden; about 100,000 
fish were taken in the year named. 
The fyke-net fishery of Connecticut in 1889 resulted in the capture of 455,250 
pounds of fish, valued at $8,759, and 1,019 terrapin, worth $1,280. The quantities of 
the different fishes were as follows : 
Products of the fyke-net fishery of Connecticut. 
Species , 
Pounds, 
j 
Value. 
Flounders 
347, 400 
$6, 899 
Frostflsh 
26, 000 
660 
Menhaden 
66, 500 
375 
Striped bass 
7, 350 
475 
Tautog rr. 
. 8,000 
350 
Total 
455,250 I 
8, 759 
THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 
The Middle Atlantic region, as here considered, includes the States of New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. From every point of 
view this is the most important fyke-net section of the country. More persons are 
here employed in fishing fykes, more nets are set, more products are taken, and more 
money accrues to the fishermen than in any other region. 
The statistics of this fishery in 1891, specified by States, are exhibited in the 
following table. It appears that 1,517 persons were engaged in tending fykes, that 
21,686 nets, valued at $120,225, were used, and that 5,056,145 pounds of fish and 
other products, valued at $159,341, were taken. The fishermen and nets are most 
numerous and the value of the fishery is greatest in Maryland ; the amount invested 
in fykes and boats, the number of boats, and the quantity of fish taken are greatest 
in New York. Pennsylvania and Delaware have the least important fisheries. 
Fyke-net fishing of the Middle Atlantic States. 
States. 
Number 
of fish- 
ermen. 
Fyke nets. 
Boats. 
Products. 
Number. 
V alue. 
Number. 
V alue. 
Pounds. 
Yalue. 
New York 
577 
6,246 
$55, 465 
502 
$16, 002 
2, 382, 882 
$48, 899 
New Jersey 
160 
1,562 
14, 191 
137 
4,155 
593, 684 
25, 450 
Pennsylvania 
60 
2, 534 
5,264 
59 
1,604 
146, 695 
6, 659 
Delaware 
27 
567 
1,261 
25 
425 
45, 091 
2,591 
Maryland 
595 
10, 398 
38, 114 
460 
7,171 
1 1, 552, 432 
62, 115 
Virginia 
98 
379 
5, 930 
73 
1,330 
335, 361 
13, 627 
Total 
1, 517 
21, 686 
120, 225 
1,256 
30,687 
5, 056, 145 
159, 341 
