478 



GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



the larger settlements on Albemarle Sound. Each portion of the coast has fishing interests pecul- 

 iar to itself, and as the fisheries of the different sounds are so unlike each other, it is thought 

 desirable to describe each section separately. 



168. STATISTICS OF THE COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 



THE DIFFERENT FISHERIES. The large rivers and brackish sounds of North Carolina arc 

 visited annually by immense quantities of shad and alewives (commonly called herring), and in 

 spring and early summer the fishing is extensive in many portions of the State. The principal 

 fisheries, however, are near the junction of the Roanoke and Chowan Rivers, at the head of Albe- 

 marle Sound, and in the Neuse and Tar Rivers. In the alewife fisheries the State ranks first on 

 the list, with 15,5^:0,000 pounds, netting the fishermen $142,784. The quantity of shad taken in 

 1880 was 3,221,263 pounds, being a little below the Maryland catch, but the price realized is so 

 much greater that the value of the catch is more than double that for the Maryland fishery. Its 

 sea fisheries, when compared with those of the more northern States, are of little importance, 

 though in the bays and sounds between Beaufort and' Wilmington many follow fishing for a liveli- 

 hood and secure annually large quantities of the various species. The mullet fisheries of the State 

 are second only to those of Florida. In 1880 the catch of mullet amounted to 3,368,000 pounds, 

 valued at $80,500. The oyster industry is confined almost wholly to the Neuse River, Beaufort, 

 and Wilmington. In 1880, according to Mr. Ingersoll, it gave employment to 1,020 men; the 

 invested capital was $68,500, and the value of native oysters produced was $60,000. 



STATISTICAL RECAPITULATION. A detailed statistical review of the North Carolina fisheries 

 will be found in the following statements : 



Summary statement of persons employed. 



Detailed statement of capital invested and apparatus employed. 



