Habitat results

Shellfish

The mean density in Quonochontaug Pond was 2.20 quahaugs per quadrat and 2.96 soft-shelled clams per quadrat.

The mean densities of shellfish in Ninigret Pond were 2.75 quahaugs per quadrat and 3.38 soft-shelled clams per quadrat.

Quonochontaug comparison:

Year	Overall
Ganz, 1975	1.61
Reardon, et al., 1979	0.70
Ganz, 1988	2.04
Ford & Ganz, 1999	1.04
Ford & Ganz, 2001	2.20

Ganz, A.R. 1997. Environmental concerns of breachway and channel siltation, Winnapaug (Brightman) Pond, Quonochontaug Pond, Ninigret (Charlestown) Pond, Washington County, RI. Division of Fish and Wildlife, RI Department of Environmental Management.

Ganz, A.R., P. Fletcher and R. Montefeltri. 1992. A shellfish survey of Ninigret Pond, Charlestown, Rhode Island. Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Leaflet.

Ganz, A.R. 1988. Survey of the shellfish management area, Quonochontaug Pond. Division of Fish and Wildlife, Coastal Fisheries Lab, RI Department of Environmental Management.

Reardon, L.W. 1979. Preliminary report of a shellfish survey of Quonochontaug Pond. (from Art Ganz)

Wood, R.S. 1976. A shellfish survey of Green Hill Pond, South Kingstown, RI. (from Art Ganz)

Ganz, A.R. 1975. A Shellfish Survey of Brightman's (Winnapaug) Pond, Westerly, RI. Leaflet #42, Marine Fisheries Section, Division of Fish and Wildlife, RI Department of Natural Resources.

Ibid. 1975. A Shellfish Survey of Quonochontaug Pond, Charlestown and Westerly, RI. Leaflet #46, Marine Fisheries Section, Division of Fish and Wildlife, RI Department of Natural Resources.

Finfish

Summer, 2000 Finfish Survey:

Hickory shad, weakfish, striped bass, mackerel, and silversides show increases from past years
There are high numbers of menhaden and alewives in 2000
No tautog or winter flounder were found
The diversity of species was the same as 1989, but much lower than the 1969 survey

Winter, 2002 Winter Flounder Survey:

There weren't as many flounder as we had expected (12 in Quonochontaug and 11 in Winnapaug over the 5 month survey)
The flounder were larger on average in Winnapaug
From January to May the size of the flounder generally increased in Quonochontaug, but stayed the same in Winnapaug
We found stripers in Winnapaug in March and May, but none in Quonochontaug
No herring, tautog, or skates were caught in Winnapaug, but they were caught in Quonochontaug
Many crabs were caught. Spider crabs dominated the catch in Quonochontaug. Green crabs dominated the catch in Winnapaug.
Crabs on average became increasingly abundant from January to May
Species diversity was greatest in the east end of Quonochontaug. Quonochontaug diversity was greater overall than Winnapaug diversity, for both fish and crabs