amount of gear increased primarily in the 

 tributaries and the catch decreased in the 

 main river. The number of seines fished in 

 i960 decreased slightly and shifted from the 

 Black to the North East Cape Fear. The num- 

 ber of bow nets and their catch also decreased 

 in i960. The Cape Fear River and its tribu- 

 taries accounted for less than 4 percent of the 

 total North Carolina shad catch in 1896, as 

 compared with almost 17 percent in I960. 



Pamlico Sound 



Pamlico Sound is an irregular body of water 

 which lies in a northeast- southwest direction. 

 It is 70 miles long and 10 to 30 miles wide. 

 To the south it joins Core Sound, which extends 

 southwest 36 miles to the vicinity of Beaufort, 

 N.C., and to the north it connects with 

 Albemarle Sound through Roanoke and Croatan 

 Sounds. Two large rivers, the Neuse and the 

 Pamlico- Tar, enter the Sound from the west, 

 and the Inland Waterway connects Pamlico and 

 Albemarle Sounds in the northeast portion. 

 The waters of Pamlico Sound and its tributary 

 streams enter the ocean through Ocracoke, 

 Hatteras, and Oregon Inlets. Salinity varies 

 with the location; it is highest near the inlets. 

 Fish migrate to tributaries of Pamlico and 

 Albemarle Sounds through these inlets. Water 

 is as deep as 70 ft. in Pamlico Sound. 



Several hundred shad were taken in 1896 in 

 the mullet fisheries of the New River, Stone 

 Bay, and other estuaries between the Cape 

 Fear River and Pamlico Sound. None was 

 landed in these areas in I960, although a few 

 were taken by dip nets and small stake gill 

 nets in the White Oak River near Maysville, 

 N.C. 



Stake gill nets and pound nets were used in 

 the northeast third of Pamlico Sound in 1896. 

 Gill nets greatly outnumbered the pound nets. 

 The catch by both gears was 1,889,694 lb. 



In i960 pound nets and stake gill nets were 

 fished in shoal areas near inlets and between 

 the mouths of tributaries. Seventeen pound 

 nets wrere fished in Core Sound near Atlantic, 

 N.C, 31 in the Bay west of Cedar Island, N.C., 

 4 outside the mouth of the Neuse River, 6 be- 

 tween the mouths of the Neuse and Pannlico- 

 Tar Rivers, 21 fronn the mouth of the Pamlico- 

 Tar to Croatan Sound, 18 in the northern 

 portion of the Sound near Roanoke Island, and 

 56 near Oregon and Hatteras Inlets. The nets 

 had leads from 100 to 150 yd. long and 2- to 

 3-in. mesh. Stake gill nets were fished through- 

 out shallow water of the Pamlico Sound: 3,880 

 yd. in West Bay; 10,960 yd. on the west shore 

 from the Neuse River to CroatanSound; 11,400 

 yd. near Oregon and Hatteras Inlets; and 21,600 

 yd. from the mouth of the Pamlico- Tar to 

 Croatan Sound. These nets were 12 to 30 yd. 

 long and 30 to 40 meshes deep and had 5 1/4- 

 to 5 3/4-in. nnesh. 



The total catch in I960 was 181,587 lb., of 

 which pound nets caught 28 percent and stake 

 gill nets 72 percent. Fish taken in Core Sound 

 were sold to dealers in Atlantic; those caught 

 on the west shore were sold to dealers in 

 Oriental, Hobucken, Engelhard, and Stumpy 

 Point, N.C; and those produced in the north- 

 ern part of the Sound near Roanoke Island and 

 near the inlets were sold to dealers in Wan- 

 chese and Hatteras, N.C. Ninety-five percent 

 of the catch was shipped to northern markets; 

 the remainder was consunned locally. 



Neuse River and Tributaries 



The Neuse River is formedby the confluence 

 of the Eno and Flat Rivers in Durham County, 

 N.C. It flows southeast 180 miles before en- 

 tering the southern part of Pamlico Sound 

 near Turnagain Bay. The principal tributary 

 streanis are the Little River, Contentnea 

 Creek, and the Trent River. The Inland Water- 

 way connects the south shore of the Neuse with 

 the Beaufort Inlet by way of Adams Creek. In 

 1896 the Neuse was the most important shad 

 stream between the St. Johns River, Fla., and 

 the James River, Va. Shad formerly ascended 

 the Neuse in great numbers, and profitable 

 fisheries were operated upstream as far as 

 Raleigh, N.C, 300 nniles from the coast 

 (McDonald, 1887b). Most of the catch, however, 

 was made within 22 miles below and above 

 New Bern, 



Several types of commercial gear were 

 used throughout the river and tributaries for 

 taking shad in 1896. The gear used from the 

 mouth to Contentnea Creek consisted of seines, 

 drift gill nets, bow nets, stake gill nets, and 

 pound nets; seines were the most important. 

 From Contentnea Creek to the headwaters, 

 bow nets, seines, and stake gill nets were 

 fished. The gear in Contentnea Creek included 

 seines, stake gill nets, and bow nets. Shad 

 did not run far upstream in the Trent River; 

 seines and drift nets operated only in the 

 lower river. 



The catch by all gear in 1896 was 873,185 

 lb., of which seines caught about 55 percent, 

 stake gill nets 13 percent, bownets 12 percent, 

 pound nets 1 1 percent, and drift gill nets the 

 remainder. 



In i960 the river was free of obstructions 

 to Goldsboro, N.C, 110 miles, where a low- 

 head dam equipped with a pool-type fishway 

 was built in 1952 (fig. 11). During periods of 

 high flow, fish moving upstream can swim 

 over the dam, but in low flow, fish must use 

 the fishway to gain access to the river above. 

 Fish that passed above the dam could ascend 

 the river to Millburnie Dann near Raleigh, 

 N.C, 55 miles away. The Trent River also 

 was free of obstructions, and shad ascended 

 to Comfort, N.C, 25 miles from the mouth 

 of the tributary. In Contentnea Creek, Wiggins 



39 



