THE OGEECHEE AND SAVANNAH RIVERS. 619 



The principal object of the fisheries of this river are the shad and sturgeon. There seems to 

 be a considerable run of Chtpea wstivalis (locally known as English herring), but no organized 

 fisheries exist for their capture. Most of the shad are caught in gill- nets, operated by gangs of 

 men from Savannah, to which place the fish are shipped by carts or rail. 



The following is a statistical summary of the fisheries of this river for 1880:* 



Number of men employed Ill 



Amount of capital employed $5,790 



Product, in pounds: 



Shad ~.~ 90,650 



Sturgeon 88,500 



Mixed fish 285,000 



Value of product $2;>,690 



At some distance up the river quite a number of skim-nets, stake-nets, and dip-nets are used, 

 but all the fish so caught go to supply the local demand, and we have no statistics of the product. 



In the last two or three years pound-nets have been introduced into the river. The fish prin- 

 cipally caught in them are rock and catfish, and, in their season, herring'iu large quantities, to- 

 gether with a few shad. 



Extensive sturgeon fisheries exist in the estuary of the river, operated almost exclusively by 

 fishermen from the Delaware. These fish are captured with gill-nets, and kept penned up until a 

 sufficient number are taken, when they are slaughtered and sent by schooner to Savannah. 



From local tradition we glean the following facts bearing on the shad fisheries of the Ogeechee. 

 The run of shad is later than it used to be, and the fish have decreased materially in size. At the 

 present day it is not worth while to put nets in the water until some time in February, while in 

 former years, according to the fishermen, some fish were taken before Christinas. Formerly the 

 catch per net in a night was from 200 to 280; now a net averages 15 or 20. On the other hand, 

 fish which formerly sold for from 5 to 8 cents apiece now bring 25 cents and 30 cents apiece. 



6. THE SAVANNAH RIVER. 



DECREASE OF SHAD IN THE SAVANNAH. The extreme sources of the Savannah are in West- 

 ern North Caioliua. 



The records of the United States Signal Office show that the temperature of the river is higher 

 at Savannah than at Augusta from August to May, but that during June, July, and August it is 

 higher at Augusta. The winter temperature is usually about 45, but it sometimes runs down 

 to 40. The data we possess, though not as accurate or as extended as we could desire, are 

 sufficient to prove that there is a connection between the temperature of the water and the move- 

 ment of the shad in the river. Thus much, at least, is certain, that shad do not enter the river till 

 about the 1st of January, when the temperature is rising and is about 50 Fahr. 



From the best available information on the subject the conclusion is reached that the Sa- 

 vannah shad fisheries do not now yield one-third the product they did eight years ago, and this 

 decrease may be ascribed to the following causes: 



First. The narrowness of the river. One familiar with the broad estuaries of the streams 

 which flow into the Chesapeake remarks at once the extreme narrowness of these Southern rivers. 

 Thirty miles from its mouth the Savannah River is not more than 400 or 450 yards wide, and as a 

 result an amount of gill-net fishing that would have no effect in retarding the run of shad up the 

 Potomac or Rappahannock is sufficient to almost completely obstruct the Savannah. 



Second. The vast volume of muddy water which is always moving down, especially in the 

 shad season. As a consequence no suitable spawning grounds exist on the lower portiou of the 



* For detailed slalislics srr ( 'c IISHS Volume on Fisheries. 



