632 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



is employed in the tautog fishery. They are, however, also used for other species of fish in the 

 same region. 



On the coasts of Long Island and New Jersey they appear to be as favorably regarded as.at 

 New Bedford for many kinds of salt-water fish, and are much more extensively employed. The 

 species of fish for which they are said to answer on the New Jersey coast is a very long one, and 

 includes nearly all the species taken there for food with hook and line. North of the mouth of 

 Chesapeake Bay, iu Virginia, the principal kinds of marine invertebrate animals used as bait are as 

 follows, in the order of preference: Soft crabs, which are considered to be by far the best, hard 

 crabs, clams and mussels, the latter being but rarely employed. About Norfolk, prawns form the 

 best bait for rockfish, but next in preference for the same species of fish comes the soft crab. Both 

 soft and hard crabs are also classed among the principal baits of this region for nearly all tiie 

 species of edible marine fish. 



Southward from here, along the remainder of the Atlantic coast, extends the great shrimp 

 and prawn region, and wherever shrimp and prawns occur and can be conveniently obtained 

 they form the favorite baits for nearly all kinds of hook and line fishing. In their absence crabs 

 must often be resorted to, and they are used to a very large extent. 



On the Gulf coast of the States crabs are also used as bait for all the species of fish for which 

 shrimp will answer. Soft crabs and very small hard crabs are preferred. 



2. METHODS OF FISHING AND TRANSPORTATION. 



METHODS OF FISHING. The most common and effective appliance in use for crab catching 

 is the simple scoop-net or dip-net, consisting of a rather shallow net, of moderately coarse mesh, 

 fastened to a ring or hoop, which is attached to a handle of suitable length, dependent upon the 

 manner in which the net is to be used. This scoop-net, generally called "crab net," is employed 

 alone for catching crabs in very shallow water, but in deeper water, where the net cannot be con- 

 veniently used on the bottom, or where the crabs cannot be seen from the surface, it is customary 

 to bring in the aid of auxiliaries, iu the shape of baited lines. These lines may be used singly, 

 several being easily managed by a single person, or be arranged after the fashion of cod trawl- 

 lines or trot-lines. They are intended merely to entice the crabs to the surface of the water, 

 within reach of the scoop-net, and are seldom lurnished with hooks. Oil the coast of Georgia 

 they sometimes employ the so-called hoop-net, which is simply a piece of twine netting tied to a 

 barrel hoop. It is weighted iu the center, and, after being baited with a piece of meat, is lowered 

 to the bottom in shallow water where the crabs are known to occur. This appliance is similar iu 

 construction and mode of use to the hoop-net pots formerly employed in the lobster fishery of 

 New England. Seines are also used in crabbing, aud in favorable localities are very effective. 

 Oyster or clam tongs aud eel-spears are about the only additional implements used iu the crab 

 fishery. They are, however, seldom employed, excepting in winter, after the crabs have retreated 

 to deep water and have embedded themselves in the mud, and but little is (ioue with them at any 

 time. 



Incidentally crabs are taken in lobster-pots, gill-nets, and fish-seines, and on fish hooks and eel- 

 spears, when they are usually regarded as a great auuoyauce aud seldom retained as food. They 

 are especially troublesome to the seiners on some portions of the Southern coast, as they become 

 entangled iu the nets and greatly interfere with operations. Thousands are often captured in the 

 seines, aud when they cannot be sold are thrown upou the shore or used for fertilizing purposes. 



Nearly all the soft crabs obtained are caught by means of the scoop net or hands alone, as 

 crabs will not take the bait while in the soft state, and are seldom captured iu the seiues. Baited 



