364 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



128. MORICHES BAY. 



This bay is 10 miles long and from 1 to 2 miles wide, and has 5 feet of water in its channel at 

 high tide. It opens on the west end into Great South Bay, and has no independent inlet into the 

 ocean. Its nearest connection with the sea is Fire Island Inlet, some 25 miles to the west, and in 

 consequence its waters are at times rendered quite brackish by the large fresh streams flowing in 

 at Seatuck Cove arid Forge River. 



Most of the hard crabs shipped from Long Island come from this bay, the people of other locali- 

 ties never having engaged so extensively in the work. They are taken from small boats by means 

 of long lines, with short ones, or snoods, attached at intervals of 2 or 3 feet, which are baited with 

 pieces of eel or other fish. The fisherman "overruns" the line from one end to the other, and as 

 the unfortunate crustaceans are successively lured within reach he secures them with his dip-net. 

 The crabs are shipped to New York in second-hand cement barrels. These cost 10 cents each, and 

 are delivered to the shippers free of transportation from New York by the Long Island Railroad 

 for the sake of the return freight when full. There are no oysters in the bay east of West Moriches. 

 The water is too fresh for scallops, hard or soft clams. 



WESTHAMPTON. -Forty men belonging to this place are occupied in fishing. Fifteen of these 

 have families, which raises the total number depending upon the fisheries to one hundred. Seine 

 fishing in the surf is carried on from May to November. Each seining crew consists of eight men, 

 and is accompanied by two horses, which are used for hauling the seines and carting away the 

 fish. The men fish on shares, one-third going to the owners of the net and the remainder being 

 divided equally among the members of the gang. An outfit, consisting of nets and small boats, 

 costs $1,200, the total amount invested in apparatus for the five gangs thus reaching $6,000. 



Striped bass (Roccus lincatus) and white perch (Roccus amcricanus) are taken in South Bay 

 from November to May. 



Ten men devote a portion of their time to the capture of eels. An eeling outfit costs $150. 

 This includes boats, cars, eel-pots, and shrimp-nets for taking bait. Mr. S. B. Topping, who was 

 an eeler thirty years ago, informs. us that he has taken 300 bushels of them in a day from April 1 

 to July 1. At that time minnows were used as bait in this fishery, but they are now rather scarce. 



About forty years ago Mr. John Lawrence put some "mud-pike" (Esox amcricanus [nobilior] 

 Gmelin) in a pond which he made for them at Mastic. A high tide overflowed the pond and let 

 them into the bay, where they have increased to the detriment of the trout streams. They are 

 now in all the mill-ponds, and have exterminated the trout in some places. Many are taken for 

 market in fine gill-nets. They attain the weight of from one-half to three-quarters of a pound. 



The products of the fisheries of Wcsthampton amounted last year to 3,000 pounds of eels, 

 500,000 pounds of fresh fish, and 100 barrels of hard crabs, all of the latter being consumed locally. 



SPEONK. Ten men fish from this place in the waters of the bay. Four of these are married, 

 and have fifteen persons depending upon them for support. Five hundred dollars are invested in 

 boats and $1,000 in nets. The yield last year was 3,000 pounds of eels and 30,000 pounds of fresh 

 fish. 



EASTPORT AND EAST MORICHES. At Eastport and East Moriches there are twenty-five fish- 

 ermen, ten of whom fish outside and the remainder in the bay. Ten are married, and, including 

 the families of these, seventy-five persons derive their living from the fisheries. One thousand 

 dollars are invested in boats and $2,000 in nets. The catch last year was: Fresh fish, 100,000 

 pounds: dressed eels, 150,000 pounds. The crab catch is included with that of Moriches Station, 

 below. 



