540 



HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



loosened from the stake and carried to the opposite bank, and whatever fish have been inclosed 

 are hauled to the shore. 



The almost invariable rule for setting gill-nets has also been described in the notes on the 

 spot fishery. When setting the seines it rarely, if ever, happens that the fishermen see the fish 

 schooling. Long experience has taught them where and when it will be most desirable to use 

 their apparatus. It frequently happens, therefore, that they make " water-hauls," but at the same 

 time they are liable to obtain a considerable capture. 



4. DISPOSITION OF THE CATCH. 



North of Cape Henlopen a large percentage of the rock and perch taken are sold locally or 

 disposed of by peddlers, or by the fishermen themselves to the inhabitants of the interior towns ; 

 the remainder is shipped to Philadelphia and New York. In the region south of Cape Henlopeu, 

 however, the reverse is the case, a large percentage being shipped to the city markets. At Mills- 

 borough, Williamsville, and some of the other towns, the catch is bought up by local dealers, who 

 pack the fish in boxes, and send them away by rail to their agents and commission merchants in 

 New York and Philadelphia. 



Mr. E. W.Houston, of Millsborough, in 1880, handled 2,000 (?) pounds of rockfish, and 1,000 

 pounds of perch ; all of which he shipped by rail. 



Through the kindness of Mr. Custis Burton, the railroad agent and express agent at Mills- 

 borough, we have been enabled to state the exact amount of fish sent from that station for the dif- 

 ferent months, from December 1, 1879, to December 1, 1880: 



The first shipment in the fall of 1880 was made October 28. The fish thus sent to market are 

 rock, perch, herring, and eels. From October to March they were nearly all rock and perch, and 

 in March and April mostly herring. No shipments of any kind of fish are made from April to 

 October, as a rule. Sometimes the people send a small lot by express to their friends in the cities 

 and towns along the line of the railroad, but none go to the markets. The shipments in winter are 

 pretty equally divided between Philadelphia and New York, and a smaller amount goes to Wil- 

 mington and Chester. 



4. THE STURGEON FISHERY OF DELAWARE BAY. 



1. STURGEON FISHERY AT BOWERS' BEACH. 



According to Mr. Samuel Wyatt, a resident of Bowers' Beach, there is no one engaged 

 in fishing for sturgeon from that place. There nre, however, during the mouth of April twelve or 

 fifteen vessels, ranging from 15 to 20 tons each, employed in the sturgeon fishery in that locality. 



