SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 189 



RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER. 



This river rises ou the eastern slope of Blue Ridge Mountains, in 

 Fauquier and Rappahannock counties, and crosses the fall line at Fred- 

 ericksburg, the head of navigation, 106 miles from its mouth, following 

 the course of the river. The fluvial characteristics extend only about 

 40 miles below the fall line and the lower 50 miles is really an arm of 

 Chesapeake Bay. About 2 miles above Fredericksburg there is a dam 

 900 feet long and 18 feet high, built in 1860 and used for developing 

 water-power, which completely blocks the upward passage of fish. 



In describing the shad fisheries of the Rappahannock, the river is 

 naturally divisible into three sections: (1) from the mouth to Deep 

 Creek, the boundary line between Lancaster and Richmond counties, 26 

 miles; (2) from Deep Creek to the boundary line between Westmore- 

 land and King George counties, 45 miles; (3) thence to Fredericksburg, 

 36 miles. 



From Chesapeake Bay to Beep CreeTc. — The lowest of these three sec- 

 tions is purely an arm of the Chesapeake, the width ranging from 4 to 

 2^ miles. Pound nets, which constitute the only form of apparatus 

 used for taking shad, were introduced in this locality in 1872, and their 

 use has increased each year, the number employed in 1896 being an 

 even 100, valued at $23,462. Fifty-seven of these were located at the 

 extreme end of the north side of the river between Windmill Point 

 Light and Windmill Point Creek, the depth of water ranging from 

 10 to 25 feet. The remaining 43 nets were located as follows: Twelve 

 between Mosquito Point and the mouth of Corrotoman River, and 12 

 between the Corrotoman and Deep Creek on the north side; and on 

 the south side, 8 near the mouth of the river and 11 between Urbanna 

 Cr6ek and Parrott Creek. The difference in the number of nets set on 

 the north and south side of the river — 81 and 19 respectively — is quite 

 remarkable, due to the rough water and fewer fish on the south side. 



The mesh in the heart of the pound nets is generally 4^ inches, but a 

 few of the nets have 2J-inch mesh, for retaining alewives also. The 

 latter species are so cheap, however, that very few fishermen in this 

 region bother with them. Each pound-net company has from 2 to 7 

 nets, requiring the services of an equal or greater number of men, and 

 one or two sailboats, worth from $50 to $400 each, and one or two row- 

 boats. The total number of men engaged in operating the 100 pound 

 nets was 116, using 43 sailboats, valued at $6,321, and 31 rowboats, 

 worth $690. 



The season began during the last week of March and closed about 

 the first of June, the greater j)ortion of the catch being obtained from 

 April 10 to May 10. The total catch was 194,067 shad, valued locally 

 at $17,579. Of these, 46 per cent were roe shad and 54 per cent bucks. 

 The pound nets also caught about 500,000 alewives and quantities of 

 squeteague, bluefish, sturgeon, etc. 



Except such as are sold locally the yield of shad in the pound nets. 



