FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 79, NO. 4 



even ranking first in 1956 and 1957. During the 

 whole period gill net catches dropped from 22,700 1 

 (>5 million lb) in 1887 to 45 t (<100,000 lb) in 

 1960, 1968, and 1969, then rose to 450 t (almost 1 

 million lb) in 1973. For most of the period, shad, 

 weakfish, striped bass, and croaker, all relatively 

 high-priced fishes, kept the fishery going, al- 

 though until very recently, with decreasing 

 numbers of fishes. It is difficult to escape the fact 

 that the declining supply of weakfish was the 

 primary reason for the decline of the gill net fish- 

 eries (Figure 11). 



Haul Seines 



Haul seines were a fairly important gear in the 

 early days, reaching peak landings of 2,000 t 

 ( >4.4 million lb) in 1930 (Figure 24), but slowly 

 and somewhat irregularly declining in production 

 until the last net ceased operating in 1971 after 

 landing <0.5 t (only 1,000 lb) of fishes. Weakfish 

 again was the most important species most of the 

 time, being exceeded by alewives in 1897, and in 

 1930 to 1933 inclusive. It is clear that weakfish 

 was the mainstay of the haul seine fishery, and 

 when it was gone the fishery did not survive for 

 long. Haul-seining, however, has always been a 



part-time operation in spring according to Daiber 

 (footnote 4). 



Croaker also was important for a time, espe- 

 cially in 1926, 1929, and 1930, 1935 to 1942, 1945, 

 1955, and 1957. Shad was important from 1887 to 

 1904, white perch from 1887 to 1908. Striped bass 

 was important in the 1880's and 1890's, showed up 

 again from 1942 to 1951; common carp, Cyprinus 

 carpio, was fairly important in 1897 to 1930, 

 again in 1935 and 1950, 1951, and 1957; spot was 

 important in 1926 and 1942; and mullet in 1948. 



Pots 



Pots were used for various species in Delaware, 

 primarily for American eel, lobster, and blue crab. 

 Later, considerable quantities of sea bass and 

 conch, Busycon sp., were taken. Most of the catch, 

 however, was blue crab, which peaked in 1957 and 

 in 1975 (Figure 25). Obviously this fluctuation 

 in blue crab abundance was real, dropping from 

 1,450 t (about 3.2 million lb) in 1957 to 110 t 

 (<250,000 lb) in 1968, then climbing rather 

 rapidly to 1,632 t (nearly 3.6 million lb) by 1975. 

 This is the largest fishery in Delaware at present, 

 but it is unlikely, in view of the variable nature of 

 the resource, to remain high for long. Being near 



Figure 24. — Commercial landings by 

 haul seines in Delaware, 1887-1971, and 

 numbers of units of gear licensed. 



592 



