McHUGH: MARINE FISHERIES OF DELAWARE 



croaker, among other fishes. Fixed nets were set 

 for the most part farther upstream and took ana- 

 dromous and freshwater species. Runaround nets 

 also took mostly marine species, mullet when it 

 was plentiful, but also weakfish, croaker, spot, 

 and other fishes. 



Landings from gill nets have declined rather 

 steadily since the 1880's (Figure 23). The numbers 

 of gill nets fell rather sharply to a low in the early 

 1940's, but have risen slowly since then. In gen- 

 eral, numbers of gill nets have paralleled the 

 catch, but whether they have remained about the 

 same size is not known. Recent catches have been 

 somewhat better than usual, as species like weak- 

 fish, striped bass, and certain others have shown 

 up in increasing numbers off the coast. 



In the beginning the greatest catch was stur- 

 geon, making up >5(Wc of the catch in 1887 and 

 1888. Sturgeon lost importance as time went on, 

 dropping to seventh in importance by 1926, and 

 was not a major species thereafter. American shad 

 soon became first, but also dropped off fairly early, 

 regaining first place in the mid-1930's, and hold- 

 ing this position almost every year until about 

 1951. Shad then dropped off again, regained first 



place in 1958, and was first until 1965 except for 

 1 yr. Since then it has fallen off to fourth or fifth 

 place. Alewives ranked third in the early days, 

 then slowly fell off, although in 1932 they ranked 

 first. They are now relatively minor, and in sev- 

 eral years in the late 1930's and early 1940's, 

 and from 1958 to 1972, were caught in only 2 yr. 

 Croaker became first in 1926 and retained that 

 rank in most years until after 1945. Weakfish has 

 fluctuated, but in general has increased in abun- 

 dance, ranking second or third in most years since 

 1929, although it fell off in the early 1950's and 

 again in the 1960's. In the 197 O's it has ranked first 

 most of the time. Striped bass has increased until 

 recently, ranking first or second in 1958, and, ex- 

 cept for a period of 5 yr in the late 1950's, has 

 remained first or second until recently. 



Other species have been prominent in landings 

 occasionally, but have not remained among the 

 primary species for long. Among these is mullet, 

 first to third from 1931 to 1940, but absent from 

 catches in most years since then. White perch 

 ranked third to fifth until 1904, and did not regain 

 this rank until 1960. Spot was second to fourth 

 from 1939 to 1948, and again from 1952 to 1960, 



Figure 2.3.— Commercial landings by 

 gill nets in Delaware, 1887-1977, and 

 numbers of units of gear licensed. 



CO 



2 

 O 



o 



CO 

 Q 

 Z 

 < 

 CO 



O 



X 



CD 



C3 



LlJ 

 tE U. 

 Q O 



1^ 



2,0 



1.5 



0-5 







14 



12 



10 



8 



6 



4 



2 







V_, 



J \ \ \ \ \ L 



^^'VY^'"'? 





J \ L 



I I I I I YW,w^ 



90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 



YEAR 



70 



591 



