120 FISHERIES OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 



employment in digging and tonging. The catch is made in Poquosin 

 and Back rivers and Chesapeake Bay, the output aggregating 16,000 

 bushels, valued at -119,200. In Gloucester County clams are taken 

 in the Severn River and tributaries, York River, and Mobjack Bay. 

 They are shipped by steamer to Baltimore from wharves on the Sev- 

 ern and York rivers. One hundred and seventy men were engaged 

 in the fishery, and the catch amounted to 13,860 bushels, valued at 

 •SI 6,632. In Mathews County nearly all the clams were taken in the 

 East and North rivers, 1,500 bushels constituting the entire catch. 



Crab. — The crab fishery of Virginia has increased over 100 per cent 

 in value since 1901, and each season adds to its importance. The 

 total catch of hard and soft crabs in 1904 was 12,266,706 pounds, 

 valued at $272,484, of which amount 1,910,654 pounds, valued at 

 $92,909, was soft crabs, and the remainder hard crabs. The crabs 

 numbered 36,800,118, of these 5,731,962 being soft crabs. The in- 

 crease in 1904 over 1901 was 4,865,005 pounds, valued at $153,649, 

 due largely to winter fishing for hard crabs with dredges. Ten ves- 

 sels engaged in this business in 1904, eight of them fishing from Eliza- 

 beth City County. The catch by vessels was 2,210,140 pounds, val- 

 ued at $38,924. 



The soft-crab fishery of Virginia is especially important in the 

 waters of Pocomoke and Tangier sounds. The catch is made prin- 

 cipally with scrapes from May until the middle of October. The 

 finest crabbing districts of the state are found in these waters, and 

 many oystermen living on Tangier Island and the mainland of Acco- 

 mac County support themselves almost entirely throughout the sum- 

 mer months by crabbing. The value of soft crabs caught in Accomac 

 County was $72,397. 



Shad. — The shad is one of the leading fisheries of Virginia, and in 

 1904 the catch was greater than in any of the other Middle Atlantic 

 States. It amounted to 7,419,899 pounds, representing 2,081,851 

 fish, valued at $439,625, which compared with 1901 shows an 

 increase of 447,687 pounds, worth $73,422, which was almost wholly 

 in the catch by apparatus fished in the waters of Chesapeake Bay 

 and tributaries. As in Maryland, the quantity of apparatus in 

 these waters has been largely increased, greatly interfering with the 

 fish on their way to the spawning grounds. The catch in the rivers 

 shows a marked decline, especially in the Potomac, where the num- 

 ber fell from 648,462 in 1901 to 289,500 in 1904. The Chicka- 

 hominy River, with its length of only 50 miles, was formerly noted 

 for the great quantity of shad taken in its waters, and eight or ten 

 years ago the annual catch averaged about 150,000 shad. In 1904 

 it was only 33,400. Nearly all the shad taken in the James and 

 Rappahannock rivers are caught in gill nets, as is done in the Nanse- 

 mond and Chickahominy. 



