62 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
Considering the relative importance of this industry by counties, 
BHlizabeth City County ranks first with 5,040,840 pounds, valued at 
$78,533; Accomac County is next with 4,352,612 pounds, valued at . 
$96,130. The former county has an excess of 688,228 pounds over 
the latter, but the value is $17,597 less. This is explained by the 
fact that Accomac County has quite an important soft-crab fishery, 
while Elizabeth City County has only hard crabs. The third in 
importance is York County, with 2,204,800 pounds, valued at $27,504; 
the fourth is Mathews County, with 1,997,760 pounds, valued at 
$18,221; the fifth is Norfolk County, with 1,959,000 pounds, valued 
at $21,772; the sixth is Northampton County, with 1,050,264 pounds, 
valued at $24,587. The remaining counties have less than 1,000,000 
pounds each. Accomac County leads in the production of soft crabs, 
the catch this year being 1,150,996 pounds, valued at $50,645. North- 
umberland County leads the western-shore counties in the produc- 
tion of soft crabs, the catch amounting to 166,390 pounds, valued at 
$12,564; Lancaster County, the next in point ol importance, shows 
a catch amounting to 78,720 pounds, valued at $5,928. Great Wi- 
comico River region in the former county, and Corrotoman River, a 
branch of Rappahannock River, in the latter county, are regarded 
as quite productive and remunerative soft-crab waters, rendered more 
remunerative, probably, because of the fact that the soft crabs appear 
here earlier than on the eastern shore, in the Tangier Sound region, 
and ‘i Crisfield dealers send boats over in the early spring for the 
catch. ; 
Crab fishing usually startsin Northumberland and Lancaster Coun- 
ties about the 15th or 20th of April, while the soft-crab season about 
Crisfield does not begin until about the middle of May. The catch, 
as well as the demand, diminishes about the early part of June, and 
‘many of the fishermen then seek other employment, although the 
.Crisfield boats continue the trips practically throughout the season. 
These boats also call at other points on the western shore to make crab 
‘collections. Trot-line fishing is carried on with more or less impor- 
itance in every county along both the eastern and western shores, but 
at many points on the latter side the fishermen lack good shipping 
facilities, the only outlet bemg to Baltimore by steamer, and crabs 
thus shipped from some places one morning do not reach their desti- 
nation until the following morning. Many of the York County fish- 
'ermen go to the lower part of the bay, where they consider the fishing 
grounds to be more productive, and sell their catch to Hampton. 
Some little trot-line fishing is carried on by Princess Anne County 
fishermen living about Lynnhaven Inlet. They start in Lynnhaven 
\River in early spring, before the crabs begin moving about, and get 
ood prices for their early catch, but when the Hampton fishermen 
begin fishing the price usually drops, and as the Lynnhaven fisher- 
‘men are handicapped for want of convenient market they have about — 
‘all abandoned crab fishing by early June. Hampton is, by far, the 
most important locality in the State for the crab industry, 33 of the 
‘56 vessels hailing from this region. There are 15 wholesale dealers 
here, 2 of whom handle canned crab meat. These dealers take prac- 
tically the entire catch of the dredge boats in addition to the trot-line 
catch of this (Elizabeth City) and other counties. 
