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.
