186 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



whatever. The water of York River is brackish nearly to West Point, 

 oysters being- i^lauted within G miles of that town. Pound nets and 

 stake nets represent the principal forms of apparatus used in the shad 

 fisheries, and a few shad are taken incidentally in fyke nets and seines. 

 The catch of shad in 1S9G was 182,375, of which the pound nets yielded 

 138,89."), stake nets 42,640, fyke nets 590, and seines 250. 



Of the pound nets 53 were set on the north side of the river, between 

 York Spit Light and Gloucester Point; 34 on the south side, near Toos 

 Point and Poquosin Flats, and 3 near Plum Point, at the head of the 

 river, making a total of 90 nets. Excepting the 3 near Plum Point and 

 23 on the shore of York County, all of these nets are owned in the south- 

 eastern portion of Gloucester County, mostly in the settlement known 

 as Guinea. They range in value from $50 to $500, averaging about $200 

 each, and with some repairs will last for several seasons. The depth of 

 water ranges from 10 to 20 feet, the leaders being set across the cur- 

 rent. Each fishing company has from 1 to 7 nets, and uses sailboats 

 averaging $100 in value, the total number of sailboats being about one- 

 half the number of pound nets used. The season begins the first week 

 in March and closes about the end of May, the greater part of the catch 

 being obtained during ^pril. Of 5,243 shad taken in 4 pound nets in 

 1896 1,262 were obtained in March, 3,170 in April, and 811 in May. 

 The catch in 1896 was unusually small, the total yield of shad in the 

 90 pound nets being only 138,895, an average of 1,543 per net. The 

 largest yield for any one net was 4,380. In addition to this species, the 

 pound nets take alewives, Spanish mackerel, squeteague or sea trout, 

 blueflsh, croakers, pompano, etc. 



The stake nets in York River are located on both sides of the chan- 

 nel from Cappahosack to West Point, but most abundantly between 

 Potopotauk Creek and Plum Point, being set in rows of from 10 to 20 

 nets in from 11 to 14 feet of water. The nets are 6 to 9 yards long, 35 

 meshes deep, with 5-inch mesh. They last only about three weeks, two 

 settings being required for each season. The season begins about 

 March 1, although most of the nets are not out until the middle of that 

 month, and closes the third or fourth week of April. Nearly all of the 

 fishermen are also farmers, and agricultural operations shorten the fish- 

 ing season. In 1896 58 boats engaged in this fishery, using 990 stake 

 nets, 6,461 yards in length, and the catch aggregated 28,232 roe shad, 

 worth $3,949, and 14,408 bucks, worth $1,183. Except sufficient for 

 local use, all the catch was sent to Baltimore by the steamers running 

 between that port and West Point. 



During the past season two fishermen from Indiantown, on the 

 Pamunkey River, attempted to take shad with drift nets in the narrow 

 portion of Y'ork River between Gloucester Point and Yorktown, where 

 the width is a trifle over a half mile. Their nets were 200 yards long, 

 65 meshes deep, with 5-inch mesh. After working about ten days with- 

 out success they abandoned their attempt. It should be noted that the 

 depth of water in this portion of Y^ork River is 80 feet or more, whereas 

 the nets used were only about 15 feet deep. 



