Vocabulary
- Seine – A method of fishing that uses a net (called a seine) that hangs down into the water with weights at the bottom, and is buoyed on top with floats.
- Shad – part of the herring family; native to Connecticut, you can find the Gizzard, American and Hickory shad.
- Anadromous – fish (like the shad) that spend most of their lives in saltwater, but return to freshwater to spawn and produce fish.
Fun Facts
- Native Americans wove Seine nets from spruce fibers or wild grass, and used rocks as weights and sticks as floats.
- Other herring in CT fresh waters, besides the shad, are the Atlantic Menhaden, Blueback herring, and Alewife.
- In addition to eating, shad were used for fish oil and ground up as fertilizer.
- A Sand Lance is a fish shaped like the head of a knight’s lance – long and pointy – to bury itself in the sand.