FISHERIES OF SOUTHERN DELAWARE. 541 



Five of these vessels, he says, belong to Philadelphia, four to Chester, and two to Penn's Grove. 

 The hailing ports of the others are not known. 



The sturgeon fishery off Bowers' Beach usually begins about the 1st of April, and continues 

 until May, after which the vessels move farther up the bay. Each one of these vessels carries a 

 crew of about six men, who, as a rule, live on board of their crafts, although some of them live in 

 rough cabins built on the shore. The fishery is carried on wholly with gill-nets, which are set out 

 in the bay across the tide, and allowed to drift with the current up and down the stream, as seems 

 most desirable. 



The average catch, Mr. Wyatt thinks, is about 1,000 fish to a vessel for the month of April. 

 These are dressed, iced in boxes, and shipped in boats to Philadelphia, or sent across to Bayside, 

 in New Jersey, where they are shipped by rail to New York. The roe is prepared on the vessels. 



