est Year – 1948 – 222,000 lbs
Highest Year – 1948 – 55,000 lbs
Habitat Capacity Key to Shad Fisheries
The removal of fish passage blockages was first described in 1867 “Report of the Commissioners Concerning the Protection of Fish in the Connecticut River, &c. to the General Assembly, May Session, 1867.” Those fish restoration efforts continue today – the Connecticut Fund For The Environment and The Nature Conservancy and other civic groups continue to install fish ladders so fish can access spawning habitat and return to the Connecticut River and do so in cooperation and with technical information from the CT Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection. The effort to restore fish passage has placed Connecticut as a leader in these efforts with a foundation its shad fishery.
For more information about shad and alewife restoration efforts an excellent newsletter called the Connecticut Weekly Diadromous Fish Report is available from CT DEEP online and gives fish counts of returning fish at major recording sites along Connecticut’s Coast. It can be found at CT DEEP Marine Fisheries or just search the name CT Diadromous Fish Reports.
The shad fishery of course is linked to the seafood consuming public and the past few years have been good generally for Connecticut. Last year almost 400,000 shad were counted going over fish ladders on their way to spawning habitats. The shad bakes keep this part of Connecticut Shad Fishery history “alive” as new generations learn about the shad fisheries of the past and the future. Many seafood consumers have been trying shad roe and found that once a Native American favorite is now theirs.
Shad fishing continues today along the Connecticut River and its gear is primarily now gillnets. The fyke nets haul seines and traps have long gone out of use. The number of licensed shad fishers has dropped below 20 raising concerns about the future fishery.
I am always interested in fisheries history and stories about fishing gear. Drop me a line at firstname.lastname@example.org
Model net plans for fykes, pounds, weirs, and gillnets are available for students who would like to build a tabletop model for community presentations. Included in the research would be climate and habitat factors that made choices of gear types significant.
Students interested in related Capstone Projects should contact Sue Weber at email@example.com for copies and these publications;
1) The Trap Net Fisheries of Guilford, Connecticut
2) The Lost Alewife Weirs of Uncas – A Fish to War Over?
3) Our Connecticut Shad Fishery (four gear types detailed)
4) Old Saybrook Native American Stone Shad and Alewife Weir – South Cove Shad Fishery
5) The Hummers Pond Alewife Project (Madison, CT)
6) Building A Native American Alewife Weir – “The Vee Traps”
The Sound School
For more information, please contact firstname.lastname@example.org.
Program reports are available upon request. For more information about New Haven Environmental Monitoring Initiative for IMEP reports, please contact Susan Weber, the Sound School Adult Education and Outreach Program Coordinator, at email@example.com
For information about The Sound School website, publications and/or alumni contacts, please contact Taylor Samuels at firstname.lastname@example.org
The Sound School is a Regional High School agriculture Science and Technology Center enrolling students from 23 participating Connecticut communities.
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