FISHERIES OF PAMLICO AND CORE SOUNDS 53 
TaBLE 12.—Percentage (by number) of unmarketable fish, Pamlico and Core 
Sounds, N. C., 1925, all localities 







Species June | July Aug. Sept. Oct. | Average 
LONG-HAUL SEINES | | | | 
PAE OMREOU se toe. See Eee TE eee Oe. es Olea 0 0 OP} 0 
SPOT PLT TOUR GCL | Sas Soe ee ees See a! oe ae 1:5, | ae ee eens Se 14.0 4.0 
DTG TR gS eS ee Ee ae ee ee ee 1.6 2.6 | 29. 2 8.4 
PTS SR) A ee ee ees eee 4.3 4.5 | 16.1 | 41. 4 | 16.6 
POUND NETS | 
SL Ve ES ree ee Pee 57.9| 41.4 24.0 11.4] 18.2 | 30. 6 
Spare DS 8 2 ee RES Ss ae ea ae | 24.6 13.5 65.0 95. 4 97.2 | 59.1 
Buttorishese eee ee i | 23.2 | 4,4 4 0 oO | 5.6 
Crpakcer! Seed aie i at Sa ee | 56.4 27.2 24.5 23.5 | 42.7 | 34.9 
2 Sa Soap TRO AMEE MA olan ene 55. 2 30.3 44.6 | 64.7} 58.0 50. 6 

Long-haul seines waste 81% per cent of the catch of croakers, while 
pound nets waste 35 per cent. Long-haul seines destroy 161% per 
cent of the catch of spots, while pound nets destroy 501% per cent. 
Long-haul seines also take appreciable numbers of mixed fish, but 
the numbers of each species is so small and variable that the per- 
centage of destruction of small fish, such as rock or striped bass, 
drum, bluefish, and sheepshead, has not been reduced to exact figures; 
but of the total number approximately 12 per cent are below market- 
able or legal limit and are thus destroyed. It can be seen that long- 
haul seines destroy but small quantities of fish that are too small to 
market, while pound nets, on the other hand, are extremely destruc- 
tive. A simple average of the percentage of waste by pound nets of 
each species shows a destruction of more than 36 per cent; but this 
is far under the real destruction of all fish taken, when it is con- 
sidered that the destruction of the most numerous species—starfish— 
amounts to almost 60 per cent for the season. 
The figures of size composition given in Tables 3 to 11 represent 
the size of fish landed in the boats. All of the fish below the legal 
or marketable size limit, indicated by the heavy vertical line in 
Figures 8 to 14, are utterly destroyed and wasted, for culling of 
these small fish from the marketable catch is not attempted in the 
case of the pound-net fishing until the boats have returned with the 
catch to the market places or waiting buy boats. They are then 
scooped up, sorted, and thrown overboard, where they float upon 
the water in great quantities, affording food only for gulls and 
crabs. (See fig. 3.) 
Table 12 further shows that the destruction of the various species 
by pound nets varies throughout the season. The greatest destruc- 
tion of gray trout occurs in June and declines through July and 
August, reaching the lowest point in September, with a slight increase 
in October. The destruction of starfish falls from June to July, but 
increases rapidly until the tremendous waste of 97 per cent occurs 
in October. Butterfish are wasted in appreciable quantities only in 
June, but the wastage of spots and croakers appears to be virtually 
constant throughout the season, with somewhat greater waste 
occurring in both species in June. The tremendous waste of croakers 
and spots is deplorable, but these species represent only 4 and 5 
per cent, respectively, of the total season catch of the pound nets, 
