114 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



years witnessed a drop to 17,185 fish annually. Production since that time 

 has never approached the period 185 7-1 861. Although this does not prove 

 the impossibility of overfishing, it does show that controlled fishing may not 

 provide the remedy desired, since if complete cessation of a fishery for a 

 four-year period gave little benefit, controlled fishing could do no more. 



The Hudson River fishery is an interesting one and should be followed 

 closely. The shad made a surprising come-back in the Hudson in 1936, and 

 since that time only a portion of the available shad have been taken. Produc- 

 tion since then has been maintained at a high level, although there were 

 indications of a decline in 1947. This fishery should be observed carefully in 

 the future to ascertain whether limited fishing will insure a continuous high 

 yield. 



The effects of pollution and construction of dams are much more easily 

 demonstrated and evaluated. Many streams have been ruined for shad by 

 industrial and municipal pollution and by the erection of obstructions of 

 various kinds. Clearing of land has resulted in erosion and silting, rendering 

 streams unsuitable for shad spawning. Shad formerly ascended many rivers 

 to their head waters. Stevenson (1899) reports shad fisheries in the early 

 days on the Neuse River above Raleigh, but there are very few rivers today 

 where the shad can reach the head waters. In other words, shad and civiliza- 

 tion are not compatible, and it is doubtful that the shad can ever be restored 

 to the status of colonial days, in spite of the attempts to do so by well-mean- 

 ing conservationists. 



In North Carolina, the upper waters of the Cape Fear, Neuse, and Pam- 

 lico-Tar rivers formerly contained important shad fisheries, but today most 

 of the state's production comes from Croatan, Roanoke, and Albemarle 

 sounds. A few shad are still taken from the lower regions of the rivers men- 

 tioned above but none from the head waters. The gear used in the shad 

 fisheries is comprised chiefly of gill nets, pound nets, and seines. 



THE MULLETS 

 Mugil species 



Two species of mullet are caught and marketed under this name in North 

 Carolina, namely, the striped or jumping mullet {Mugil cephalus) and the 

 white or silverside mullet {M. curema). A number of other species are known, 

 most of them being found in tropical waters of the world, but the two named 

 above form the mullet fishery of northern waters. The jumping mullet is 

 more abundant than the silverside in North Carolina. The former also has a 

 more northern range, extending into the Gulf of Maine, whereas the latter 

 is not found north of Cape Cod (Bigelow and Welsh, 1925), The local species 

 are also found on the Pacific coast and both coasts of South America. ' 



