Virtual Learning Center

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.

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