30 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
to 32,249,000 pounds. This production rose to a maximum of 52,- 
924,000 pounds in 1897, but since that time the available statistics 
show a continual though gradual decline until the period from 1918 
to 1923, when the annual yield approximated 31,000,000 pounds, 
or about the same amount as that produced at the beginning of the 
period for which we have records. While the decline in total yield has 
not been disastrous to the industry, several important species have 
suffered serious decline. The most important of these are the shad 
and the mullet, although bluefish and striped bass also have shown 
a marked reduction. The total yield has been maintained only by 
the increased utilization of the cheaper and less desirable varieties 
of fish and by an increased intensity of fishing and improved methods 
of production. 
This unsatisfactory trend of the fisheries of the State was forcibly 
pointed out by Dr. Hugh M. Smith in 1907,° when he asserted that 
the condition of the industry demanded the thoughtful consideration 
of the fishermen and lawmakers. He declared that: 
The fisheries may be expected to deteriorate— 
(a) Through failure of the State to provide prompt and adequate protection 
to those fishes which begin to show a decrease in abundance. The history of the 
sturgeon is an unmistakable indication of what will eventually happen to the 
shad, alewives, striped bass, and other species unless ample provision is made for 
the survival of a sufficient percentage of the annual run until spawning has ensued. 
(b) Because of unnecessarily wasteful methods, such as the capture of larger 
quantities of food fishes than can be utilized or disposed of to advantage and the 
useless destruction of larger numbers of fishes of no present market value but of 
prospective importance. 
(c) Owing to careless methods of packing and preserving the catch, and failure 
to keep abreast of the progress of the times in matters affecting the shipment and 
sale of fish. 
The wisdom of his predictions is attested by the present condition 
of the fisheries, for the decline in abundance actually has occurred, 
and many of the conditions that caused this decline still remain to 
be remedied almost 20 years since the original warning. 
The general shortage of fish has increased the rivalry between the 
operators of two dominant types of gear operated in Pamlico and 
Core Sounds—pound nets and haul seines—and endless discussion 
concerning the effects of these nets on the fish supply has resulted. 
As early as 1883, L. H. Hardy, a North Carolinian, wrote to the 
United States Fish Commissioner as follows: * 
We have in Carteret County, N. C., a great many fish, and our people live 
by catching and selling them. For the last four years our waters, both in the 
sounds and ocean, have been obstructed by Dutch nets (pound nets), which 
have proved very destructive to our fish. Thousand of fish too small to be 
serviceable are caught by these nets and suffered to remain in them until they 
are dead and then turned out to drift upon the shore in numbers that would seem 
incredible to relate. * * * Thus millions of good | fish are being destroyed 
yearly that are not worth a cent while so small. * 
In 1912, C. H. Sterling, a fish dealer of Wins ine tee: N.. \C.,ssaad 
As to the pound nets, dragnets, and seines, some man has said that the pound 
nets are the root of all evils. I think he is mistaken. I have seen seines pull 
in hundreds of small fish that a poeune net would not catch. 


3 Fishes of North Carolina, by ae M. Smith. ‘North ‘Garalina, Gane and Economic Survey, 
Vol. II, p. 412. Raleigh, 1 
4 Bulletin, U.S. Fish ae for 1884, p. 317. 
5 Report of the Fisheries Convention held at New Bern, N. C., Dee. 13, 1911. North Carolina Geo- 
logical and Economie Survey, Economic Paper No. 29, p. 37. Raleigh, 1912. 
