BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 211 



Sound provides an excellent environment in which young crabs may molt 

 and grow, and the shallow, clear waters of the sound enable fishermen to 

 capture young crabs in greater commercial quantities than elsewhere along 

 the coast. The monthly catch of soft crabs, based on an 8-year production 

 record in Carteret County, is given in Table 3. 



GEAR 



The baited trot-line is generally employed to catch blue crabs in North 

 Carolina. A colonial seaman, Samuel Kelly, who visited the Carolina coast 

 in 1782, described the use of this type of fishing gear: 



"There is a blue and yellow crab here about the size of a man's hand, 

 and they are plenty. The way to catch them is to get into the boat alongside 

 with a line to reach the bottom and to which any animal substance may be 

 fastened. After lying at the bottom a few minutes, it is drawn up softly and 

 you will find the crabs fast to the bait, which they will hold fast to the 

 water's edge. Then, having a cabbage net extended on a small hoop, you 

 place this gently beneath the crabs and secure them, for they always quit 

 their hold on being lifted out of the water." 



Essentially the same method for catching crabs is in use today. The 

 common form of trot-line consists of a ground line of ^ inch Manila rope, 

 1,000 feet or more in length, that is baited with pickled tripe or salted eel. 

 The line is run over a roller that extends from the side of a small power 

 boat. Crabs hold on to the bait and are brought to the surface as the boat 

 goes forward, forcing the roller under the line. As the crab-bearing bait 

 approaches the surface of the water, a dip-net is used to take up the crabs. 



The patent dip trot-line gear is also widely used and differs from the 

 former type in that a large conical bag made of netting is suspended below 

 a metal frame which is situated under the roller in such a way that the crab 

 automatically drops into the entrance of the net when it releases its hold 

 on the bait. Thus, dipping by hand is not required. This rig may employ 

 over a mile of line and can be operated from a larger, more seaworthy boat 

 than the simple trot-Hne. Baits are generally fastened on the line from 2 to 

 3 feet apart and the line is laid down in a locality where crabs are known or 

 believed to be abundant. 



INTENSITY OF FISHING 



North Carolina ranked fifth among twelve seaboard states in the produc- 

 tion of blue crabs in 1940. The trend of the annual yield within the state 

 has been upward during the past thirty years. Since 1930, the catch has 

 always exceeded one million pounds annually, reaching a peak of 6,375,000 

 pounds in 1936. Table 4 presents the annual production and value of blue 

 crabs in the State. 



