390 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



Gill-nets of large mesh are also used for taking sbeepshead in the vicinity of Barnegat Inlet, 

 where they are allowed to drift over the feeding-grounds of the fish. This fishing is carried on 

 chiefly at night. It is seriously objected to by the line fishermen, who claim that the nets frighten 

 the fish away and "break up" the fishing. 



THE SEINE-FISHERY. Haul -seines were formerly extensively used in many of the rivers and 

 bays of the district. They are now used at different points along the shore by the crews of the 

 various life-saving stations for rock (Boccus Uneatus) and other species, and to a limited extent in 

 some of the bays and rivers. In most regions, however, their use in the rivers is prohibited by 

 law, and as the run of rock along the shore is quite small, the seine- fishery is now of little impor 

 tance, except in the winter rock and perch fisheries of Metedecouk Neck, at the northern end of 

 Baruegat Bay. Here one hundred and ninety-six men with forty-nine seines are engaged in fishing 

 from November till April, hauling their seines both in the open water and under the ice. Rock 

 and perch are said to have been first taken in this locality about the beginning of the present 

 century, and for the last forty years the fishery has been extensive. A single haul of 80,000 

 pounds is reported about 1850, while 15,000 to 25,000 pounds are occasionally taken in a day by a 

 single seine at the present time. The total catch in the winter of 1S79-'80 reached over half a 

 million pounds, netting the fishermen $36,700. After this fishing is over a few of the nets are 

 hauled for herring (Clupca vcrnalis and C. (cstivaUs) iu the locality for several weeks, while others 

 are taken to the Delaware River, where they are used iu the capture of shad and herring. 



THE HAND-LINE FISHERY. The hook -and -line fisheries, when separated from the still 

 baiting, trolling, and the winter cod fishery, include only the catch of such parties as are employed 

 in the capture of the different species with hand-lines in the bays and rivers, together with those 

 engaged iu "bottom-fishing" on the various rocky spots along the shore. The former class com- 

 prises a large number of men and boys of all ages and occupations who fish occasionally or with 

 considerable regularity for pleasure and profit during the summer months, together with the .sum- 

 mer visitors, who fish extensively for amusement. The catch of this class is composed chiefly of 

 weakfish and bluefish. The second class is made up of the professional fishermen who fish for 

 "bottom-fish" on the rocks whenever gill net fishing, still-fishing or trolling ceases to be profitable. 



It often happens that for some reason the bluetish are less plenty, or tl-at they refuse the hook 

 either at certain times of the tide or for days together. The fishermen usually carry lines and 

 bait, and ou such occasions spend their time in fishing on the rocks. At certain seasons of the 

 year a considerable number of fishermen devote their entire attention to "rock-fishing," and the 

 catch is often quite large. The principal species taken are sea bass (tierranus atrariux), black- 

 fish (Tautoga onitis) and porgies (Stenotomus ehrysops], though it is said that the last-named species 

 is much less abundant than formerly. 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE COD FISHEKY OF THE REGION. About the 1st of November the cod- 

 fish reach the shore, and the other species having mostly disappeared, many of the fishermen 

 between Sandy Hook and Squan River engage in the cod fishery during the winter months. This 

 fishery is confined wholly to the locality named, with the exception of an occasional trip by the 

 crews of the various life-saving stations further south. At first hand-lines are used, but later in 

 the season these are superseded by trawls or scrawls as they are often called. These have an 

 average of two hundred to two hundred and fifty hooks each, and a boat with two men usually 

 carries two of them. They are set at a distance varying from one-half to G miles from the shore, 

 and allowed to remain for an hour and a half, after which they are hauled and the boat returns. 

 The gaugiugs of many of the trawls are provided with corks; these were introduced into the 



