6 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



is rather level, with a depth of about 20 feet, but there are extensive shoals 

 distributed in the Sound as follows: 



1. Completely around the shoreline grading into the extensive bordering 

 marshes. 



2. As deltas at the four existing inlets (see the section below on The Off- 

 shore Bar and Its Inlets). 



3. Between the converging mouths of the rivers, particularly the two 

 larger ones, the Neuse and the Pamlico. 



4. Extending northward from Ocracoke Inlet as Bluff Shoal. 



The latter shoal is apparently the result of the deposition of suspended 

 matter where waters draining from the north, Albemarle Sound, etc., meet 

 drainage from the southwest, Neuse and Pamlico rivers, etc. (Winslow, 

 1889). Thus the merged estuaries of the latter rivers form one basin in south- 

 eastern Pamlico Sound, while another lies to the northeast of Bluff Shoal. 

 The Inland Waterway connection with Albemarle Sound is cut by way of 

 the Pungo River to the northwest, and the connection with the Beaufort area 

 starts in Adams Creek from the south shore of the Neuse River. The salinity 

 in Pamlico Sound varies with location (see below, the section on Salinity and 

 Nutrient Salts), and the sessile fisheries forms are distributed accordingly: 

 clams about the mouths of inlets, oysters along the opposite shores. The 

 Sound also abounds with the previously mentioned anadromous fishes, which 

 tend to linger prior to entering the estuaries or enroute to the northern 

 sounds. Numerous other characteristically marine fishes: mullet, spot, 

 croaker, gray trout, shrimp, and others, populate Pamlico Sound in accord- 

 ance with the tendency for such forms to prosper in such extensive shallow, 

 brackish areas. 



Core Sound begins at the southern part of Pamlico Sound and extends 

 southwesterly about 36 miles to the vicinity of Beaufort, where Bogue Sound 

 begins and stretches about 2 5 miles westerly. These sounds vary from i to 6 

 miles in width and are extremely shoal, Core Sound averaging about 3^ feet 

 of water and Bogue about 2^ feet. There is considerable drainage from the 

 surrounding lowland by way of marshes and small creeks. Three large arms 

 of these sounds, referred to as rivers, are the North River and the Newport 

 River, both of which are opposite Beaufort Inlet at the intersection of these 

 sounds, and the White Oak River opposite Bogue Inlet at the western end 

 of Bogue Sound. The Inland Waterway from Pamlico Sound cuts through to 

 the Newport River and at Beaufort it takes a westerly course through Bogue 

 Sound. In addition to the Beaufort and Bogue inlets, already mentioned, 

 there are two that cut through the banks to Core Sound. The salinity varies 

 with the locality, being highest near the inlets, particularly near Beaufort 

 Inlet. The fisheries resources are in a very general way much like those of 

 Pamlico Sound. 



