502 GEOGEAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



THESE SHORES A FAVORITE SPAWNING AND FEEDING GROUND FOR VARIOUS FISHES. The 

 waters of the district, like those of Florida, abound in fish of various kinds during the entire year, 

 and the sounds and their river tributaries are the spawning and feeding grounds of a large 

 number of edible species. The salt-water creeks along the shore abound in shrimp, and the 

 extensive marshes and inuddy bays are the homes of large numbers of terrapin. 



THE OUTLYING CORAL BANK AN IMPORTANT FISHING GROUND. At a distance of 10 to 20 

 miles from the shore, in from 10 to 18 fathoms of water, we find an irregular coral bank extending 

 along the entire coast. It is broken up into patches several miles in extent; these are separated 

 from each other by broad areas of sand. The patches are covered with various species of corals 

 and sponges common to more southern latitudes, and among them are large numbers of moHusks 

 and articulates. The abundance of food on the banks, together with the shelter afforded by the 

 corals, make them the favorite feeding grounds of immense schools of fish, chief among which is the 

 blackfish (8. atrarius), from which the banks derive their name. They have long been visited by 

 the smack fishermen of New England, who come south each winter to engage in the capture of 

 blackfish to supply the Charleston and Savannah markets. At present the smack fisheries of the 

 district are confined almost wholly to Charleston, and they will be treated more fully under the 

 fisheries of that city. 



THE BOAT FISHERIES. The shore fisheries of the district are very limited. They are confined 

 largely to the vicinity of Charleston and Savannah, where a market is found for the catch. There 

 are a few other points, also, where Northern fishermen, together with those from Charleston and 

 Savannah, engage extensively in the capture of shad and sturgeon (Acipenser sturio), shipping 

 their catch either by water or rail to these markets or through them to the larger cities of the 

 North. In addition to the above many of the inhabitants of the more isolated regions depend 

 largely on the water for their food, and most of them have small boats in which they visit 

 the larger creeks with hook and-line or cast-nets to catch a supply of fish for their own tables, as 

 well as for those of their neighbors. Few fish, if any, are salted by these people, even for home 

 use, but at certain seasons, when some particular species is unusually abundant, some of the men 

 fish more extensively for several weeks, sending their catch to market. 



KINDS OF FISH TAKEN. The principal species taken along the shore are mullet (Mugil albula 

 and M. braziliensis), spotted trout (Cynoscion maculatum), yellow-finned trout (Cynosdon regale), 

 whiting (Henticirrus alburnus), croakers (Micropogon undulatus), bass (Scicena ocellata), drum (Pogo- 

 nias chromis), blackfish (Serranus atrarius), sheepshead (Diplodus probatocepJialus), porgies (Stcno- 

 tomus chrysops and Pagellus sp.), bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), shad (Clupea sapulissima), and 

 sturgeon (Acipenser sturio). 



THE STURGEON FISHERY. According to Colonel McDonald, who has given special attention 

 to the subject, the sturgeon fisheries are prosecuted in many of the larger rivers of South Carolina 

 and Georgia by both Northern and resident fishermen. The fishing begins on the Satilla River, in 

 southern Georgia, about the middle of February, and extends northward as the season advances, 

 closing at Georgetown, S, C., about the 1st of May. The sharp-nose sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) 

 is the common species of the locality. These fish average 150 pounds each. They arc taken 

 wholly in gill-nets of 12-inch mesh, 80 to 150 fathoms in length. The men live in camps on the 

 river bank, and when fish become scarce in one stream they move to another. The principal stur- 

 geon rivers are the Satilla, Altamaha, Ogeechee, Savannah, and Combahee, in Georgia, and the 

 Edisto and Waccamaw in South Carolina. The outfits are usually owned by capitalists who hire 

 their crews at from $25 to $40 per month. An outfit for three men, including net and boat, costs 

 about $130. An average catch for the season is 100 fish to the net in Georgia and 125 to 200 in 



