SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



203 



The mesh in most of the shad pound nets has the foUowin^^ dimen- 

 sions: Leader, 7 iuches; first ''pound," 0; seeond "pound," 4 or 5, and 

 main "pound," 4 or 4;^ inches. Some of the nets have 2i-inch mesh, in 

 order to retain the alewives; while a few of the reguhir shad nets have 

 a backing- of 2^-inch mesh, against which the tish are bunted when the 

 net is lifted, the alewives not escaping readily through the large mesh 

 except when the net is being lifted. There is a tendency to increase 

 the size of the mesh, and during the last year it was 12 inches in some 

 of the leaders, and this will probably be exceeded, as the tide runs 

 strong and a small mesh trap is more likely to be swept away than one 

 of larger mesh, and it also accumulates more seaweed and other floatage. 

 The "pounds" are usually from 40 to 60 feet square and the leaders 

 from 200 to 250 yards in length, the average cost of the nets approxi- 

 mating $100. The total catch of shad by the pound nets in 1896 num- 

 bered 269,228, of which 114,999 roes and 102,531 bucks were obtained by 

 Virginia fishermen, and 31,163 roes and 20,535 bucks by residents of 

 Maryland. This yield was not so large as usual, nor were the prices so 

 high as in former years. Unusually warm weather in April resulted in 

 glutting the market, and prices did not recover during the season. The 

 lowest prices received were 6 cents for roes and 3 cents for bucks, but 

 from two to three times that amount represented the average prices. 

 The total value of the above yield was $28,801, of which $23,268 repre- 

 sented the Virginia and $5,533 the Maryland catch. 



Seining was formerly the most extensive branch of the Potomac 

 Eiver shad fisheries, but its importance as compared with the drift-net 

 and x)ound-net fisheries is becoming less each year. 



The following shows the location and extent of this fishery in 1896 : 



At Great Falls, 14 miles above Georgetown, there are a few bow nets 

 used each spring from the last week in April to the first or second week 

 of June. These nets are operated from a point known as " Shad Eock," 

 which projects into the water on the Virginia shore just below the 

 I)rincipal falls. Three bow nets were reported from that locality in 

 1896, the yield numbering 360 roe shad and 240 bucks. 



