DELAWARE: DESCRIPTION OF FISHERIES BY TOWNS. 417 



delphia. The skiffs employed iu this fishery- arc constructed especially for the purpose, aud are 

 described under the head of apparatus as the Delaware crab-skiff; these are let out to the fisher- 

 men, many of whom are boys, who sell their catch to the owners of the skiffs for a stated sum. 

 There are employed in the fisheries here two hundred and twenty-two boats, valued at $776; 

 twenty gill-nets, worth $100; twenty-two haul-seines, worth $000; and three hundred eel-pots, 

 valued at $150. 



The products of the fisheries are 397,300 pouuds of anadromous and sea fish, 111,500 pounds of 

 fresh-water fish, 500 pounds of turtle, 1,200 terrapin in number, 50,000 clams, and 180,000 crabs. 

 The most important fishery in the matter of quantity is that for herring or alewives, of which, in 

 the spring of 1880, it was estimated 105,000 pounds were caught. Some 70,000 pounds of men- 

 haden are taken, about one-sixth of which are sold for food, and the remainder used as a fertilizer. 

 The fishery for soft crabs, which is of considerable importance, as has been mentioned above, began 

 about 1873, when two men, belonging at Long Branch, New Jersey, came to this section and 

 engaged in the business. Since that time, however, this industry has been followed by the resi- 

 dents of the place, the more enterprising of whom have had a large number of boats built for this 

 purpose, which they furnish to men employed to fish for them, buying the catch at the rate of 12 

 cents a dozen. 



DAGSBOEOXJGH. The little village of Dagsborough, with a population of about 200, is situated 

 on the line of the Breakwater and Frankford Railroad, some 4J miles in a southwesterly direction 

 from Millsborough. The residents of this place depend mainly on agricultural pursuits, though in 

 the spring, summer, and autumn they engage more or less regularly in the fisheries. There are 

 employed in this pursuit forty-two fishermen; twenty-eight boats, valued at $130; ten gill-nets^ 

 worth $50, and eight haul-seines, valued at $240. A portion of the boats, like those used at Mills- 

 borough, though in a far less degree, are used in the capture of soft crabs in their season ; the 

 greater part, however, are built on the style of the ordinary batteau, and are used in the various 

 branches of the fisheries, including seining and gill-netting. The fishing grounds resorted to 

 are Indian River and Bay, where essentially the same species are taken as are caught by the resi- 

 dents of Millsborough. 



The products of the fisheries are 71,100 pounds of sea fish and anadromous species, 13,700) 

 pounds of fresh- water fish, 100 pounds of turtle, 204 terrapin, 15,000 clams, and 78,000 crabs. 



FEANKFOED. Three miles south of Dagsborough is the village of Frankford, on the line of 

 the Breakwater and Fraukford Railroad. This place, though having no fisheries, may be men- 

 tioned from the fact that a quantity of the products of the fisheries are shipped from here. About 

 8,200 pounds of fish and 9,125 pounds of soft crabs were shipped by rail to Philadelphia and other 

 markets in 1880. 



BLACKWATEE. Some 6 miles in an easterly direction from Fraukford brings us to the post- 

 office of Blackwater. This place has a scattering population of between 100 and 200, depending 

 chiefly on farming. There are, however, eighteen men here employed in the fisheries; four of 

 them depending wholly on catching fish for a livelihood, while the remainder are employed more 

 or less regularly as fishermen, chiefly in the spring. These fishermen make use of twenty-two 

 boats, worth $110; forty gill-nets, worth $200, and two haul-seines, valued at $80. 



The products of the fisheries of Blackwater are 71,300 pounds of sea and anadromous fish, of 

 which 30,000 pounds are menhaden, used principally for fertilizing purposes; 3,000 pounds of fresh- 

 water fish, 500 pounds of turtle, 192 terrapin, and 180,000 crabs. 



OCEAN VIEW. The little hamlet of Ocean View, composed of a dozen or fifteen dwelling 

 houses and stores, is six miles distant by the road from Blackwater in an easterly direction, 

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