546 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



** A 



I.ARcrsT SEINE ix THE Woxi i>. 



This seine, operated for shad and ale-wives at Stony Point, Virginia, on the Potomac River, was the 

 longest net of the kind. The net proper was 9,600 feet in length, and the hauling ropes at the ends 

 were 22,400 feet long, giving 32.000 feet as the total sweep of the seine, only one end of which shows 

 in the illustration. The seine was hauled by steam power and the labor of SO men, and was drawn 

 twice daily, at ebb tide, throughout the season. As many as 3,600 shad were taken at one haul, and 

 126,000 in one season, and 250,000 alewives were caught at one time. Recently the. season's yield 

 of shad fell to 3,000, and the fishery was consequently discontinued in 1905 after having been carried 

 on for a century. This seine was a source of eggs for the Bureau of Fisheries shad hatchery on 

 this river. 



The effect of this ruthless harvesting 

 of the waters is shown in the decreased 

 catch of herring at Ferry Landing, Vir- 

 ginia, where was located the largest 

 seine on the Potomac River, twelve 

 hundred fathoms long. It discontinued 

 operation owing to the scarcity of fish. 

 In former years, this celebrated fish- 

 ing shore, with even a smaller seine, 

 sometimes yielded 200.000 or more her- 

 ring at a haul, and even up to ten or 

 fifteen years ago took probably 15,000 

 to 30,000 at a haul. In 1913, the largest 

 haul was 3,000 herring. 



Virginia has laws forbidding the tak- 

 ing of herring in its waters for ferti- 

 lizer purposes. Boats of the fertilizer 

 companies of the Old Dominion, there- 

 fore, sail into Maryland waters, .pur- 

 chase herring and carry them to the fac- 

 tories in Virginia. Maryland has but 



one small fish fertilizer factory and no 

 laws against the taking of herring for 

 use for fertilizer. 



That many fishermen realize the 

 moral wrong involved in thus diverting 

 the herring from channels of the high- 

 est utility is evidenced by their state- 

 ments. A representative of the Mary- 

 land State Game and Fish Protective 

 Association says : 



"Fishermen who have sold these 

 fish for fertilizer have come to me 

 and told me they believed it wrong 

 and wished it could be stopped by 

 law in this State, knowing that they 

 were injuring themselves by think- 

 ing only of the present, with no 

 thought of the future, but while it 

 was lawful and others did it they 

 would continue to do it also." 

 In justice to the fishermen it should 



