miles, the river is a tidal estuary, 500 yd. to 

 5 miles wide. Twenty-five miles above tidal 

 water, the river receives Tuckahoe Creek, a 

 tributary nearly as long as the main stream 

 above this point. 



The 1896 catch in the Choptank was 

 1,224,897 lb., or nearly one-half of the total 

 production of all Eastern Shore streams: 

 999,513 lb. were taken in the main stream and 

 225,382 lb. in Tuckahoe Creek. The gears were 

 pound nets, drift gill nets, seines, stake gill 

 nets, and fyke nets. The location and descrip- 

 tion of gears fished in the Choptank were as 

 follows: pound nets, from the river mouth to 2 

 or 3 miles above the entrance of Tuckahoe 

 Creek, but concentrated between Oxford and 

 Windyhill, Md., a distance of 25 miles; drift 

 gill nets, 60 to 200 yd. long and 40 to 60 meshes 

 deep, from Windyhill to the head of the river; 

 stake gill nets, 12 to 25 yd. long and 25 to 45 

 meshes deep (5-in.-mesh), from the lower 

 limit of the drift net fishery to Castle Haven, a 

 distance of 18 miles; seines, 120 to 325 yd. 

 long, from Williston to Greensboro; and fyke 

 nets from Dover Bridge to the entrance of 

 Tuckahoe Creek. 



The 1896 fishery in Tuckahoe Creek extended 

 from the Choptank to Hillsboro. The gears 

 were drift nets and seines, plus a few pound 

 nets and weirs. The catch by gear and amount 

 of gear fished are given in tables 29 and 30. 



The main river was free of obstruction in 

 I960, and shad ascended at least 81 miles to 

 a point 10 miles above Greensboro, Md., and 

 18 miles to Hillsboro, Md., in Tuckahoe Creek. 

 Ripe female shad were takenfrom the entrance 

 of Tuckahoe Creek to the upper limits of the 

 run in the main river and tributary. 



The Choptank ranked second in production 

 in 1960 among rivers on the Eastern Shore, 

 surpassed only by the Nanticoke. The fishery 

 extended about 71 miles fronn the river nnouth 

 to Greensboro in the main river and to Hills- 

 boro in Tuckahoe Creek. The estimated catch 

 was 11,130 lb., of which drift gill nets caught 

 about 30 percent, stake gill nets 33 percent, 

 pound nets 28 percent, and seines the re- 

 mainder. In addition, unlicensed gill nets took 

 an estimated 7,380 lb. in the headwaters. 



Drift gill and stake gill nets were fished in 

 the main river and Tuckahoe Creek, and seines 

 and fyke nets were used inthe main river only. 

 Drift gill nets were fished from Choptank, Md., 

 to Greensboro, and were most numerous near 

 the entrance to Tuckahoe Creek. They were 

 100 to 175 yd. long and 45 to 65 meshes deep, 

 and had 4 1/2- to 5 l/4-in. mesh. Stake gill 

 nets were fished from the mouth of the river 

 to Choptank and in Tuckahoe CreekfromHills- 

 boro to the main river; they ranged from 100 

 to 220 yd. long and 25 to 45 meshes deep, and 

 had 4 3/4- to 5 l/4-in. mesh. Seines and fyke 

 nets ■were operated near Denton, Md., and 

 pound nets from the mouth of the river to 

 Secretary. 



The average annual production for the Chop- 

 tank River and Tuckahoe Creek has steadily 

 declined. The average catch in 1920 and 1921 

 was less than 10 percent of the 1896 yield of 

 1 1/4 million pounds. From 1944 to 1960, the 

 annual yield was less than 50,000 lb. and 

 reached a near record low of 11,130 lb. in 

 1960. 



Chester River 



The Chester River is the second largest 

 stream entering Chesapeake Bay from the 

 Eastern Shore; it is surpassed only by the 

 Choptank. The Chester River rises in Kent 

 and Newcastle Counties, Del., and flows 55 

 miles to the Bay. The width ranges from 2 to 3 

 miles near the mouth to 150 ft. near Millington, 

 Md., 36 miles upstream. 



The 1896 shad fishery of the Chester ex- 

 tended from the river mouth to the headwaters ; 

 most fish were taken in pound nets near the 

 mouth and in stake gill nets set between 

 Chestertown and Millington. Stake gill nets 

 were 20 to 50 yd. long and 30 to 45 meshes 

 deep and had 5- to 5 l/2-in. mesh. The aggre- 

 gate length of 178 nets in 1896 was 7,020 yd., 

 and the yield was 70,444 lb. A number of drift 

 gill nets formerly were operated in the river, 

 but they were gradually superseded by stake 

 nets. The catch by drift nets was 989 lb. The 

 pound net fishery was near the mouth of the 

 river, and the catch was 76,662 lb. Seines be- 

 tween Island Creek and Crumpton, Md., took 

 35,718 lb. The catch of 8,594 lb. in numerous 

 fyke nets fished below Chestertown was inci- 

 dental to the catch of other species. 



Shad ascended the Chester River 36 miles 

 in I960 to the vicinity of Millington. The esti- 

 mated catch was 445 lb., of which 46 percent 

 was taken by drift gill nets between Chester- 

 town and Highway 17 bridge and 54 percent by 

 stake gill nets between the mouth of the river 

 and Highway 290 bridge near Crumpton. In 

 addition, unlicensed gill nets caught an esti- 

 mated equal quantity of shad. 



The fishing effort and the availability of 

 shad have declined in the Chester River. In 

 1920 and 1921 the catches were only 540 and 

 2,700 lb., respectively. From 1944 to 1960 

 the annual yield remained low, fluctuating 

 from a peak of 45,755 lb. in 1947 to a record 

 low of 445 lb. in 1960. 



TRENDS IN PRODUCTION 



Shad entered almost all Maryland waters of 

 Chesapeake Bay in 1960, but in much smaller 

 numbers than in 1896. Inthe intervening years, 

 the catch in most of the Bayandits tributaries 

 fluctuated widely, but production generally de- 

 clined (table 33). 



61 



