SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



201 



The ibllowing- suinmaiy shows, by States, the uuuiber of peo])le 

 eini)k)ye(l iu each branch of the shad (isheries of the Potomac Eiver in 

 189G: ' 



The following statement shows the boats, ai^paratus, etc., employed 

 in the shad fisheries of the Potomac Eiver in 1896 : 



The following statement shows the product of each branch of the 

 shad fisheries of the Potomac Eiver in 1896: 



The drift-net grounds extend from Mathias Point to Alexandria, a 

 distance of 60 miles, but those nets are operated most extensively from 

 Indian Head to Eiver View. Below Mathias Point the water is salty 

 and too clear and sluggish to permit the successful use of this form of 

 apparatus, except when heavy rains have swollen the river. The nets 

 range in length from 300 to 1,000 yards, averaging above 700 yards, 

 and in depth from 30 to 90 meshes, depending respectively on the width 

 and depth of the reach iu which they are operated. They are usually 

 so rigged as to float several feet below the surface of the water, being 

 suspended by buoy lines at intervals of 15 or 18 feet. Those nets 60 

 to 90 meshes deep, when operated in the main channel, are buoyed 

 with the upper line from 8 to 10 feet below the surface, permitting all 

 boats, except the largest steamers, to pass over them without injury. 



