170 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Except one seine in the extreme upper end of Oroatan Sound, stake 

 nets and pound nets are the only apparatus used in these two water 

 areas, and these catch almost an equal number of shad each. 



The stake nets differ in no particular from those in use in the extreme 

 northern part of Pamlico Sound. From 75 to GOO nets are set in a 

 string, the nets averaging in length nearly 20 yards each. The strings 

 are placed generally north and south, so as to present the least surface 

 of resistance to the strong currents caused by prevailing winds. In 

 Eoanoke Sound there was but one string in 1896, containing 225 nets and 

 set in the northern part above Dalby Point. In the Croatan 16 strings 

 containing 3,220 nets were set in the eastern half, and 14 strings con- 

 taining 2,405 nets in the western half. The number of men and value 

 of boats and apparatus employed in each sound are shown in the tables. 

 The catch of shad by 225 nets in Eoanoke Sound was 5,000, of which 

 about two-thirds were roes, and in Croatan Sound the stake-net yield 

 was 37,598 roe shad and 31,028 bucks, with a local valuation of $14,006. 

 • The pound nets average in value from $75 to $100 each and are set 

 near the shores. In Roanoke Sound there were but 3 pound nets in 

 1896, while 140 nets were in Croatan Sound. Four men and a boat 

 worth $150 were used to operate the former, and 72 men, with 34 boats 

 valued at $1,530, were required in Croatan Sound. The catch by the 

 former approximated 1,350 bucks and 731 roes, and by the latter the 

 yield was 44,769 buck and 29,065 roe shad. The pound nets also 

 caught 866,500 alewives and quantities of striped bass, squeteague, 

 bluefish, mullet, etc. 



In the extreme northern end and on the western shore of Croatan 

 Sound a 2,300-yard seine was operated in 1896, requiring the services of 

 30 fishermen, 29 shoresmen and preparators, 1 open flatboat, and 2 

 steam scows. The size of mesh was from 2 to 3i inches, the depth of 

 water from 4 to 12 feet, and the yield of shad approximated 20,000, of 

 which two-thirds were bucks. 



It appears that the total catch of shad in these two sounds in 1896 

 by means of stake nets was 73,626, of which 56 per cent were roes; 

 whereas the catch by pound nets and seines aggregate 95,915 shad, of 

 which only 38 per cent were roe shad. This difference is due in a 

 large measure to the size of the mesh in the gill nets, failing to hold 

 many of the small buck shad, leaving a greater proportion to be taken 

 in the pound nets. Except sufficient for local use, the fish are delivered 

 by boat at the Old Dominion Wharf on Roanoke Island, and thence 

 sent to Norfolk, where they are distributed to northern markets. 



ALBEMARLE SOUND. 



Albemarle Sound is formed at the confluence of Roanoke and Chowan 

 rivers, extends eastward a distance of 60 miles, and connects with the 

 northern end of Pamlico Sound through Croatan and Roanoke sounds. 

 The characteristics of this sound dilfer little from those of the broad 

 estuaries forming the lower end of Neuse, Pamlico, James, Rappahau- 



