40 FISHERIES OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 



THE PRODUCTS BY APPARATUS. 



Dredges, tongs, rakes, etc. — The most productive forms of apparatus 

 employed in the fisheries of New Jersey, as determined by the value of 

 the catch, are dredges, tongs, rakes, etc., used in the capture of oysters, 

 clams, mussels, and crabs, the yield being 19,657,210 pounds, valued 

 at $2,126,576. 



Pound nets. — Next in importance were pound nets, the catch 

 amounting to 26,850,091 pounds of fish of various species, valued at 

 $421,691. Nets are set along the entire coast of New Jersey, but are 

 most numerous off Monmouth County. The few in Delaware Bay are 

 fished mostly for king crabs and squeteague, a separate crib being 

 added for the latter species. Port Monmouth, in Monmouth County, 

 is the most important pound-net center, being within convenient 

 reach of New York City, the market for all of the catch except men- 

 haden. Menhaden, however, constitute more than half of the pound- 

 net and fyke-net catch at this place. They are sold chiefly to hand- 

 line fishermen at Seab right and vicinity, for bait. 



There are several large cold-storage plants on this coast, some of 

 them with a capacity of three-quarters of a million pounds, and valued 

 at $30,000 to $40,000. These plants are the result of a demand for 

 means of retaining the catch until the prevalence of higher prices 

 than those obtainable during the season. They are in some cases 

 owned by the fishermen, in others by stock companies. 



Lines. — The line catch in 1904 amounted to 6,735,630 pounds, 

 valued at $287,461. The most important line fisheries are located at 

 Seabright and Galilee, in Monmouth County, Atlantic City, in Atlantic 

 County, and Holly Beach and Anglesea, in Cape May County. At 

 Seabright and Galilee bluefish is the most important species taken. 

 At Atlantic City there is a trawl-line fishery for cod and a hand-line 

 fishery during the summer for squeteague, sea bass, bluefish, flounders, 

 and other species. At Holly Beach and Anglesea hand lining, espe- 

 cially for sea bass, is much more important than trawl-line fishing. 

 The line fisheries of Ocean County are important in the aggregate, 

 but there is no distinctive center, as in Monmouth, Cape May, and 

 Atlantic counties. 



GUI nets. — The yield of this apparatus was 5,271,711 pounds, valued 

 at $245,470. Gill nets are used mainly in the Delaware and Hudson 

 rivers, shad being by far the most important species taken. The 

 sturgeon gill-net fishery in the Delaware River is also important, 

 though it has declined very noticeably during recent years. Salem 

 County supports the most important gill-net fisheries in the state, 

 shad constituting nine-tenths of the value of the catch, and the 

 remainder being sturgeon with the resulting caviar. Some of the 

 shad gill nets are more than 1,200 yards in length. In some localities 



