NEW JERSEY: SOUTHERN COAST. 



393 



STATISTICAL RECAPITULATION. The following statements show the extent of the fishery 

 interests of Southern New Jersey for 1880: 



Summary statement of persons employed. 



Detailed statement of Capital invested and apparatus employed. 



Detailed statement of Hie quantities and values of the products. 



a Including 200,000 pounds used lor fertilizing purposes. 



145. THE PRINCIPAL FISHERY CENTERS DESCRIBED. 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE REGION. The ocean shore of Southern New Jersey, including tbe 

 coast-line from Barnegat Inlet to Cape May, is formed by a number of low sandy islands, varying 

 from 3 to 20 miles in length and from a few rods to a mile or more in breadth. These are 

 separated from each other by shoal and narrow inlets and from the mainland by a net-work of 

 tide creeks forming a salt marsh usually several miles in width. In the northern portion of the 

 district these creeks unite to form a large bay, known as Little Egg Harbor, which may be 

 regarded as a southern prolongation of Barnegat Bay. At other points where rivers of any 

 considerable size empty into the ocean large shoal-water bays are found, the two most important 

 ones being Great Bay and Great Egg Harbor. 



On the Delaware or western shore a similar belt of low land or salt marsh extends for a 

 considerable distance, while the water lying beyond the shore-line deepens so gradually that 

 extensive mud and sand flats are exposed at low-tide. 



THE PECULIARITIES OF THE INHABITANTS. The inhabitants are scattered along the higher 

 lands overlooking the marshes, or congregate to form small settlements at the head of the shoal 



