NORTH CAROLINA: THE MORE IMPORTANT DISTRICTS. 489 



THE DIFFERENT MARKETS FOE TROUT. The trout average 1 pounds each, and find a ready 

 sale at 2 to 4 cents apiece in Beaufort or Morehead City. The fishermen living at a distance from 

 the market are obliged to salt their catch, while fish taken at the southern end of Bogue Sound 

 and at New River go fresh to Wilmington. When the supply is large the surplus of those pur- 

 chased by the dealers is salted; but it is difficult to overstock the market, as there is an outlet for 

 a large quantity in Baltimore, which is the best trout market in the country. The shipments to 

 this port are so large at times that, according to the dealers, the transportation companies have 

 been obliged to limit the daily shipment to 40 barrels. 



THE VALUE OF TROUT SOUNDS. The sound of the trout is very valuable, and at the present 

 time not less than 4,500 pounds are handled annually in this locality, which is the only district 

 south of Delaware where fish sounds are extensively saved. Prior to 1872 there was no market for 

 them in the region, and none were saved beyond the few that were gathered by the fishermen's 

 wives for use iu their kitchens. None of the residents of the region knew that they were even a 

 salable article. In the spring of 1872 Mr. D. Bell, of Morehead City, having learned that fish 

 sounds were saved in the North, decided to ship a few by way of experiment. Those sent, though 

 not properly cleaned, netted him nearly a dollar a pound. On learning their value, he at once 

 went through the county and contracted with the fishermen for the sounds of the trout taken by 

 them at 15 cents a pound. Competition soon brought them up to 25 and later to 75 cents. From 

 this date to the present day all of the fishermen have saved the sounds when salting their fish. 



THE INVENTION OF THE TROUT SOUNDER. In 1878 the fresh-fish trade had grown to such 

 proportions that a large part of the trout were shipped "round" in ice, and the value of the sounds 

 was lost to the dealers. This led Mr. Bell to consider the question of removing the sound without 

 opening the fish. Accordingly he soon invented a simple apparatus, by means of which he could 

 draw it out through the gill-opening without injuring the looks or sale of the fish. The instrument 

 is called a " sounder." It consists simply of a thin piece of wood C or 7 inches long and three- 

 fourths of an inch wide, to which a small wire hook is attached. The stick is inserted at the gill- 

 opeuing and passed along the backbone to detach the sound from the body. When it has been 

 loosened the sound is easily drawn out through the same opening by means of the wire hook. At 

 the present time all of the trout are "sounded" before shipment. Boys are usually employed for 

 this work, and many of them have become so expert that they can sound forty fish iu a minute. 

 The sounder is at present used only at Beaufort, Morehead City, and New Berne. The fishermen 

 of Wilmington, the next most important trout market on the coast, have never used it. The 

 general use of the sounder throughout the State would result in an annual saving of many thou- 

 sands of dollars to its people. 



THE INTRODUCTION OF POUND-NETS INTO THE REGION. The first pound-net was introduced 

 into Core Sound in the spring of 1879, by Mr. Harrison, of New York, who was employed by Messrs. 

 Lamphier & Haff, of that city. It was located about 6 miles north of Beaufort, but the fishermen 

 of the region, with a characteristic dislike for any new method of fishing, especially by a non-resi- 

 dent, cut it to pieces before it had been fairly tested. In the fall of the same year Mr. D. Bell, of 

 Morehead City, put one up in Bogue Sound, and another was added the following spring; but it 

 is said that the trout, the species for which they were intended, did not enter them, and though 

 abundant in the waters, but one individual was secured. Later they were taken up and removed 

 to the Neuse River, where they were successfully used for herring and shad. So far as we know, 

 this is the most. southern point on the coast where pound-nets have ever been successfully used, 

 though there was an unsuccessful attempt to introduce them into the shad fisheries of Florida, 

 probably by men who did not fully understand setting and fishing them. 



