Croatan and Roanoke Sounds 



Separated by Roanoke Island, these sounds 

 parallel each other and extend south from 

 eastern Albemarle Sound into northeastern 

 Pamlico Sound. Roanoke Sound, west of the 

 island, is 8 miles long, 1/2 to 2 miles wide, 

 and 1 to 3 ft. deep over most of its area. 

 Croatan Sound, east of the island, is 8 miles 

 long, 2 to 4 miles wide, and generally 7 to 

 10 ft. deep. Most shad migrating from Pamlico 

 to Albennarle Sound use the east channel; the 

 fishery in Croatan Sound is more important, 

 therefore, than in Roanoke Sound. 



Stake gill nets and pound nets were the only 

 gears fished in these waters in 1896 except 

 for one seine in the extreme upper end of 

 Croatan Sound. The estimated catch was 

 714,994 lb., of which Croatan Sound produced 

 96 percent. 



Pound nets, stake gill nets, and anchor gill 

 nets were used in both sounds in I960. Twenty 

 pound nets and 2,700 yd. of stake gill net and 

 anchor gill net were fished in Roanoke Sound 

 in 1960. Forty-four pound nets and 14,500 yd. 

 of stake gill net and anchor gill net were 

 fished in Croatan Sound. In both sounds, the 

 gill nets ranged fronn 15 to 100 yd. long and 

 25 to 40 meshes deep and had 5 1/4- to 

 5-3/8-in. mesh. The nets were set primarily 

 for striped bass, and shad catches were in- 

 cidental. The shad catch was 39,766 lb. (72 

 percent) in Croatan Sound and 15,504 lb. (28 

 percent) in Roanoke Sound. Pound nets took 

 69 percent of the combined catch. The catch 

 from both sounds was sold to dealers in 

 Wanchese and Manns Harbor, N.C. 



Although the areas fished and distribution 

 of the catch in Croatan and Roanoke Sounds 

 have changed little over the years, the amount 

 of gear fished and the catch were much smaller 

 in I960 than in 1896. 



Albemarle Sound 



Albemarle Sound joins Pannlico Sound 

 through Croatan and Roanoke Sounds and is 

 joined with Currituck Sound to the northeast. 

 Albemarle Sound has an east-west dimension 

 of 55 miles and averages 7 miles wide and 16 

 to 20 ft, deep. Eight rivers empty into the 

 Sound; since it receives such large river 

 drainage and has only indirect exchange with 

 the sea, it is essentially fresh water. 



The shad fisheries of Albemarle Sound in 

 1896 were among the most important on the 

 Atlantic coast. The season began about Feb- 

 ruary 1 and lasted until mid-April. Of the 

 3,100,474 lb. caught, 58 percent was taken by 

 stake gill nets, 24 percent by pound nets, and 

 18 percent by seines. Gill nets averaged 20 yd. 

 long and 10 to 14 ft. deep, and had 5 1/4- to 

 5 l/2-in. mesh: they were set in strings of 50 

 to 500 nets. Pound nets were set along the 



shores, 1 to 25 nets on each string. Seines 

 averaged about 2,500 yd. long and 12 to 16 ft. 

 deep and had 2-in. mesh in the bunt and 3-in. 

 mesh in the wings. Principal fishing centers 

 in the Sound were Edenton, Peter Mashew's 

 Creek, Mackeys Ferry and vicinity, and Pear 

 Tree Point. 



In addition to the fishery in the Sound proper 

 in 1896, 175,348 lb. of shad were taken in the 

 Pasquotank and Perquimans Rivers. The Pas- 

 quotank extends 15 miles inland and has an 

 average width of 2 miles and a depth of 10 or 

 12 ft. This river yielded about 36,930 lb., of 

 which seines caught 53 percent, pound nets 

 32 percent, stake gill nets 11 percent, and 

 bow nets the remainder. The Perquimans is 

 12 miles long, and averages more than 1 mile 

 wide and 10 to 1 2 ft. deep. It yielded about 

 138,418 lb., of which pound nets caught 39 

 percent, stake gill nets 38 percent, and seines 

 23 percent. 



In i960 stake and anchor gill nets, pound 

 nets, and haul seines were used in the shad 

 fisheries of Albemarle Sound. A total of 70,350 

 yd. of gill net was fished along the south shore; 

 4,050 yd. in the Alligator River and 18,000 yd. 

 along the north shore (Currituck Sound and 

 Pasquotank and Perquimans Rivers are in- 

 cluded in totals for the north shore.). The fish- 

 ing of gill nets was illegal in the Sound west of 

 Highway 32 bridge. Twelve pound nets were 

 fished along the south shore near Mackeys, 9 

 in lower Albemarle Sound, and 6 along the 

 north shore off the mouth of the Pasquotank 

 River. One haul seine was operated in western 

 Albemarle Sound near the railroad bridge and 

 one in the eastern part near Point Harbor, 

 N.C. 



Gill nets were 10 to 150 yd. long and 30 to 

 45 meshes deep, and had 4- to 5 l/2-in. mesh. 

 Pound net leads were 100 to 200 yd. long, and 

 each seine was 150 yd. long. The catch by all 

 gears was 94,837 lb., of which gill nets caught 

 93 percent, pound nets 4 percent, and haul 

 seines 3 percent. Most of the catch was mar- 

 keted in Elizabeth City, Edenton, and Colum- 

 bia, N.C. 



Since 1896 the areas fished and the gear 

 used in the fishery have remained essentially 

 unchanged. The extent of the fisheries, how- 

 ever, both in amount of gear fished and catch, 

 has decreased greatly, and the fishery could 

 not continue if it were wholly dependent on 

 shad. 



Roanoke River 



The Roanoke River, a narrow, rapid stream 

 formed by the confluence of the Dan and Staun- 

 ton Rivers in Mecklenburg County, Va., follows 

 a winding course of 198 miles before entering 

 Albemarle Sound below Plymouth, N.C. 



The commercial fishery of the Roanoke in 

 1896 was confined to the lower river, from the 

 mouth to Williamston. The gears were seines, 



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