MARYLAND: SALT- \VATEE FISHERIES. 



Delaihd statement of tlu: quantities and values of ike products. 



425 



157. THE FISHERIES OF THE OCEAN SHORE. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGION. The State of Maryland, if we consider the Chesa- 

 peake and its larger tributaries, has an enormous coast-line of salt and brackish water. Its ocean 

 shore, however, is very limited, being only about 25 miles in extent. The outer beach is formed 

 by a long and irregular sand-bar, varying from a few rods to a mile or more in width, extending 

 throughout the entire length of the State. Lying between this bar and the mainland is a large 

 and very irregular sheet of brackish water, which connects with the ocean near Chiucoteague 

 Island, Virginia, and again through Green Rim Inlet, in the southern part of Maryland. The lower 

 portion of this lagoon, known as Assateague Bay, is 7 or 8 miles wide and from 10 to 12 miles long. 

 At its northern extremity it suddenly contracts into a long and narrow channel, known as Siune- 

 puxeiit Bay, which connects it with Isle of Wight Bay, an irregular sheet of brackish water near 

 the northern "boundary of the State. A belt of low swampy land, averaging 3 or 4 miles in width, 

 separates the waters of these bays from the higher lands of the interior, with occasional landings 

 connected by wagon roads with the villages and farming districts a few miles distant. A number 

 of families have located at different points near the southern extremity of the outer bar, and in its 

 northern portion is situated the growing village of Ocean Grove, which seems destined to be the 

 popular summer resort of the region. The main shore, on account of the marshes, is almost unin- 

 habited, the villages being situated on an average of 5 or 6 miles from the water. These, as a rule, 

 are small and unimportant, the only ones of note 'being Snow Hill, the county seat, and Berlin, a 

 small railroad center. 



THE FISHERIES OF ASSATEAGUE AND SINNEPUXENT BAYS. The fishing of Assateagne and 

 Sinnepuxent Bays is of little importance, being confined largely to the capture of mullet (M. aJlula 

 and M. Iraziliensis) locally known as fat-backs eels (A. rostrata), croakers (M. undulatus), drum 

 (P. ckromis), weakfish (C. regale), and bluefish (P. saltatrix), for local use, during the summer 

 months, and to the capture of a limited quantity of rock (R. lincatus) and perch (R. americanus) in 

 the fall and winter. Clamming and oystering are also carried on to a limited extent in this region. 

 The men engaged in the fisheries are for the most part farmers living some distance from the water. 

 These own small boats, which are kept at the various landings in the region. During their spare 

 hours they take their seines and repair to the shore, catching a supply of fish for local use and a 

 few mullet for salting, after which they return home. With the exception of clams, almost no sea 

 products are sent from this region to the larger markets of the country. 



FISHERIES OF ISLE OF WIGHT BAY. In the northern portion of the State, especially at Isle 

 of Wight Bay, the fishing is much more extensive. This region was visited by Capt. J. W. Collins, 

 to whom we are indebted for the following information. In the vicinity of Ocean City there is a 

 limited fishery along the outer beach for menhaden and drum, the former being taken with seines 



