GEOGRAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



and used as a dressing for the laud, while the latter are taken with hook and line by persons 

 standing along the shore. In this fishery the hooks are baited with menhaden or crabs and thrown 

 well out into the surf, after which they are slowly drawn to land, the fish seizing them as they pass 

 through the water. It is said that the catch of drum in this way is frequently so large that there 

 is a good deal of difficulty in disposing of them in the locality, and many are thrown away for lack 

 of a market. The bay fishing is prosecuted to a greater or less extent during the entire year, 

 though it is much more extensive during the winter months. A few persons may properly be called 

 professional fishermen, as they follow fishing for a livelihood throughout the year, catching any 

 species that happens to be abundant. With the above exception the summer fishery is prosecuted 

 chiefly by farmers for home supply. In the fall and winter, when their farm work is over, many 

 of these devote their entire attention to the fisheries, and, whenever the weather will admit, ship 

 their catch by rail to Philadelphia and New York. 



Seines and gill-nets are used to a considerable extent, both being sometimes employed by the 

 same parties. The meshes of the gill-nets vary from 3 to 5 inches, according to the species for 

 which they are intended. The average net is from 25 to 50 fathoms in length and from 15 to 25 

 meshes deep. The seines vary greatly, according to locality, the small ones ranging from 30 to 

 100 fathoms, while the larger ones reach and even exceed 300 fathoms. Some of the fishermen are 

 provided with craft large enough to furnish them shelter during their stay in the vicinity of the 

 fishing grounds, but most have only small open boats, and are obliged to camp on shore with no 

 shelter, except that afforded by the trees and hills. They seldom build huts for their protection, 

 claiming that these would be destroyed and the lumber carried away during their absence. They 

 often go 8 to 10 miles from home, and remain from three or four days to even a week at a time, 

 and, being without shelter, they are often exposed to great hardships. 



STATISTICS OF THE CATCH. Enormous catches are sometimes made, though as a rule the 

 fishermen meet with only moderate success. The principal species taken in the winter are rock 

 and perch, while in the spring alewives, pike, and catfish are also secured. 



According to Captain Collins, the value of the catch of this region for both fresh-water and 

 salt-water species amounted to $22,055 during the season of 1880, to which should be added $12,889 

 for the lower portion of the State; giving a total of $35,541 as the amount received by the fisher- 

 men of Maryland for sea products, exclusive of oysters, taken along the ocean shore. 



158. THE FISHERIES OF THE BAT SHORE. 



PECULIARITIES OP THE EEGION. If the State of Maine be excepted, probably no portion of 

 the entire coast is so ragged and irregular as that part of Maryland which borders Chesapeake 

 Bay, and, though no exact figures are at hand, it would doubtless be wholly within bounds to 

 assume that the State has upwards of 1,200 miles of coast line washed by the salt and brackish 

 water of the numerous arms and tributaries of the Chesapeake. The saltness of the water varies 

 greatly at different times, depending largely upon the amount of rainfall in the region. During 

 seasons of drought it is nearly as salt as the ocean, but in rainy seasons it is only moderately 

 brackish, while in the extreme upper portion and in the mouths of the larger rivers it is nearly 

 fresh. As a rule, however, it is so salt that oysters, crabs, and certain marine fishes thrive in 

 almost any part of it. 



THE FISHERIES. With so enormous a coast line it would be natural to suppose that the 

 Maryland people would engage extensively in the Chesapeake fisheries; and such is the case in 

 certain localities, where the prosecution of the shad, herring, and oyster fisheries forms the princi- 

 pal occupation of the people. In many sections, however, the shores are low and damp, with few 



