234 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Delaware River below Scudder Falls. — The estuary of Delaware Kiver, 

 from the head of Dehxware Bay to the fall line just above Trenton, is, 

 from a commercial and fishery point of view, one of the most important 

 streams on the Atlantic coast. It varies in width from 4 miles at the 

 lower end to a few hundred feet near Trenton, up to which point it is 

 navigable. On the east it borders Salem, Gloucester, Camden, Burling- 

 ton, and Mercer counties, N. J., and on the west it passes the shores 

 of Newcastle County, Del., and Delaware, Philadelphia, and Bucks 

 counties in Pennsylvania. By the compact of 1783 between the States 

 of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the whole surface of Delaware Kiver 

 from shore to shore is the dividing line between the two Su^-tes as far 

 as relates to the arrest and prosecution of offenders against the laws 

 of either State. All fishing is interdicted after June 10 of each year, 

 and also from sunset Saturday night until 12 o'clock p. m. Sunday of 

 each week. The principal fishing centers are Penn Grove, Pennsville, 

 Salem, Pedrickton, Gloucester, and Camden in New Jersey; Delaware 

 City and Newcastle in Delaware, and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. 

 Drift nets and seines are the only apparatus used. Of 2,002,628 shad 

 caught in 1896, 2,085,591 were taken by drift nets and 517,037 by seines. 



The following series of tables shows the extent of each branch of the 

 shad fisheries of this water area: 



Table alto winy 



I, by States, the number of persons employed in each branch of the shad 

 fisheries of Delaware liivcr below Scudder Falls in 1896. 



Table shotving, by States, the boats, apparatus, etc., employed in the shad fisheries of 

 Delaware Biver below Scudder Falls in 1896. 



