172 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The following summary shows by counties -its location and extent 

 in 1896: 



Dare 



Tyrrell 



Wasliington 



Bertie 



Currituck . . 



Camden 



Pasquotank 

 Perquimans 

 Chowan 



Total . 



No. of 

 men. 



$4, 800 

 2,625 



15, 230 



3,000 



200 



$2, 200 

 510 

 1, .558 

 370 

 ]00 

 40 

 75 

 620 

 3, 729 



Shad caught. 



No. of No. of 

 roes. bucks. 



11, 490 

 2,947 

 10,668 

 4,372 

 200 

 1,050 

 50 



64, 535 



17, 220 

 4,730 

 19, 046 

 6,105 

 253 

 2,000 

 250 

 7,845 

 51, 396 



108, 845 



$5, 236 



1,447 



5,484 



2,009 



88 



550 



51 



2,592 



14, 637 



32, ( 



a Includes six nets in Alligator River. 6 Includes four nets in Little Alligator River. 



c Located in North River. 



Haul seines were the only apparatus of capture employed in the shad 

 fisheries of Albemarle Sound until about 1860, and until quite recently 

 they have been the principal apparatus. At the present time, however, 

 they play a minor part in the shatl fisheries of this region, only 4 being 

 operated — 3 on the shore of Chowan County and 1 in Bertie County. 

 They average in length about 2,500 yards each and in depth 12 to 16 

 feet, with 2-inch mesh in the bunt and 3-inch in the wings. From 25 to 

 35 men are required at each fishery, and steamers or steam flats are 

 used in hauling each seine. The catch of these four seines in 1896 was 

 69,857 roe shad and 62,356 bucks, with a local valuation of $25,401. In 

 addition to shad, 4,235,324 alewives were taken, the value being $11,655. 

 A very small quantity of striped bass, perch, and sturgeon are also 

 caught in the seines. 



To illustrate the comparative abundance of shad during the last half 

 century, the following statement is presented, showing for a series of 

 years the yield of shad at the Greenfield seine fishery on Albemarle 

 Sound : 



; Fishing intorvupted during 1862-65 on account of war. 



