Ashepoo catch was 31,508 lb., of which 29,310 

 were taken in 1,297 yd, of stake gill nets, 

 and 2,198 lb. in 6 bow nets. 



A few shad were taken on the New Colleton 

 and Coosawhatchie Rivers in 1896 by bow net 

 and small stake gill nets for local use. The 

 total catch was probably less than 3,000 lb. 



Except for an occasional fish taken in the 

 Coosawhatchie River, the Combahee and Ashe- 

 poo were the only streams between the Savan- 

 nah and Edisto Rivers that produced shad in 

 I960, The fish ascended the Combahee River 

 at least 60 miles to the vicinity of Miley and 

 the Ashepoo River 50 miles to the vicinity of 

 Walterboro. (No obstructions to upstream 

 movement of fish existed in either river.) 

 The localities of capture of ripe female fish 

 indicated that the spawning grounds in each 

 river were in the upper 20 miles of the range. 



On the Combahee in I960, fishing began the 

 first week of February and was discontinued in 

 mid- April. The 60 nets fished for shad were 

 from 8 to 40 yd. long and 25 to 35 meshes 

 deep and were concentrated near Highway 17A 

 bridge. The catch was 1,935 lb. and was con- 

 sumed locally. 



Set and drift gill nets were used on the 

 Ashepoo River. Drift nets were fished pri- 

 marily below the Highway 17 bridge, and Bet 

 nets above the bridge. Set nets were 10 to 60 

 yd, long and 20 to 25 meshes deep, and the 

 drift nets were 40 to 75 yd. long and 25 to 35 

 meshes deep. The estimated catch was 500 lb., 

 all of which was taken by local residents for 

 home consumption. 



The catches by gear and amount of gear 

 fished in the Combahee and Ashepoo Rivers in 

 1896 and I960 are given in tables 16 and 17. 

 In I960, compared with 1896, the amount of 

 fishing gear was larger and the catch smaller. 



Edisto River 



The Edisto River is formed by the junction 

 of the North and South Edisto Rivers near 

 Branchville, S.C., and flows southeasterly 90 

 miles where it enters the ocean at St. Helena 

 Sound. Each tributary is 70 miles long. The 

 river is narrow and has numerous shoals and 

 a generally sandy bottom. The water is brown- 

 ish and relatively free from industrial effluents 

 and pollution except for minor discharge of 

 domestic sawage. The limit of tidal influence 

 is 40 miles upstream n«ar Fishburn Landing. 



The fisheries on the Edisto in 1896 extended 

 from the river mouth to Orangeburg on the North 

 Edisto and were most extensive near Jackson- 

 boro. Set gill nets were the principal gear; a 

 few bow nets and seines were operated in the 

 upper reaches of the river. The season opened 

 about January 10 and closed the end of March; 

 best catches were in February. Fishing with 

 gill nets was restricted to 4 days each week, 

 from Mond*y sunrise to Thursday sunset. The 



estimated catch was 129,482 lb,, of which gill 

 nets caught about 78 percent, bow nets 13 per- 

 cent, and seines the remainder. 



The river was unobstructed in 1896 and 

 I960, and shad ascended the river at least 

 100 miles to the vicinity of Orangeburg in the 

 North Edisto and at least 120 miles to the 

 vicinity of Norway in the South Edisto. Shad 

 spawned from Fishburn Landing to the upper 

 limit of the run in each tributary; major 

 spawning grounds were near Givhans Ferry 

 State Park (Walburg, 1956). 



In I960 drift and set gill nets were used for 

 taking shad in the coastal (river mouth to 

 Fishburn Landing) and inland (river and trib- 

 utaries above Fishburn Landing) fishing areas. 

 In the coastal area 38 set gill nets were 

 the only gear used except for a few drift gill 

 nets fished near Fishburn Landing. The catch 

 by the latter nets was included with the drift 

 net catch in the inland area. Set nets were 45 

 to 90 yd. long and 35 to 45 meshes deep. Aggre- 

 gate length of the nets was 2,611 yd., and the 

 shad catch was 6,807 lb. In the inland area 80 

 set and 18 drift gill nets were fished to the 

 vicinity of Canadys, a distance of 40 miles. 

 Set nets were 10 to 60 yd. long and 35 to 45 

 meshes deep; drift nets were 35 to 100 yd. 

 long and 35 to 65 meshes deep. Total length 

 of the set gill nets was 2,944 yd,, and the shad 

 catch was 9,903 lb. Aggregate length of the 

 drift gill nets was 1,080 yd,, and the shad catch 

 was 5,820 lb. Seventy-five bow nets fished 

 from Canadys to the upper limit of the run in 

 each tributary took 6,730 lb, of shad. Haul 

 seines normally are operated near Cottage- 

 ville, but they were not fished during the I960 

 season because of high water in the early 

 season and low market price for shad there- 

 after. 



In addition to commercial fishing, the river 

 supported sport fishing for shad with rod and 

 reel from West Bank to Canadys, a distance 

 of 60 miles. The estimated catch by sport 

 fishermen in I960 was 4,670 lb. Most fish 

 were taken between Fishburn Landing and 

 Harts Bluff. 



The total shad catch in I960 was 33,930 lb.; 

 17 percent was taken by drift gill nets, 49 

 percent by set gill nets, 20 percent by bow 

 nets, and 14 percent by rod and reel. Most 

 fish were sold locally, but some were marketed 

 in Charleston. 



The shad fishery on the Edisto River changed 

 little between 1896 and I960 except in the 

 amount of gear used and catch. In 1896 the 

 Edisto ranked second among the shad streams 

 of South Carolina and accounted for about 19 

 percent of the total catch; it ranked fourth 

 and yielded about 12 percent of the total catch 

 in I960. The amount of gill net fished in- 

 creased about 36 percent from 1896 to I960, 

 but the catch by this gear decreased 78 per- 

 cent. The catch by bow nets and the number 

 of nets fished also decreased. Cable (1944) 



30 



