THE EDISTO RIVER, SOUTH CAROLINA. 623 



Total number taken 4.8CO 



Gross weight of sturgeon to uet .pounds . . 15, COO 



Net weight f sturgeon to net pounds.. 6,500 



Weight of roe to net pounds.. 875 



Number of pounds of dressed stnrjjron inarketrd 312,000 



Value of same, at 7 cents per pound $21 840 



Number of pounds of roe (33G kegs, each 125 pounds) 42 000 



Total value of roe $2 940 



Total value of the sturgeon trade, of Savannah $24, 780 



8. FISHERIES OF THE EDISW RIVER, SOUTH CAROLINA. 



The Eclisto Biver lies wholly within the limits of South Carolina, having its sources chiefly in 

 the sandy belt. Its waters, being filtered through extensive tracts of swamp and low ground, are 

 usually clear, even in seasons of high water, but always with a transparent brown tint from the 

 in fusion of vegetable matter. The tide ebbs and flows as high as the crossing of the railroad 

 about 40 miles above its mouth. There are no obstructions, natural or artificial, in this river 

 or in either of the main tributaries. At Orangeburg there are several "hack" and "fall" traps, 

 which take some shad every season for local supply, but these do not invade the river channel. 

 Rafting of timber is carried on extensively on the Edisto and its tributaries, and the active prose- 

 cution of this industry upon this and other Southern rivers has exerted a conservative influence 

 upon the fisheries by maintaining an open channel for the passage of fish. The shad fishery the 

 first in importance has fallen off very much of late years, for reasons not clearly understood. The 

 second and only remaining fishery of importance is that for the capture of sturgeon, which is prose- 

 cuted in the mouth of the river, where the depth of the water and the width of the channel permit 

 "drifting," i. e., '-floating of the net." On March 6, 1880, we found quantities of sturgeon moving 

 up the river 40 miles above the mouth. Indeed, they almost caused a close season for the shad 

 fishermen by running in their nets and tearing them to pieces. 



Fishing for shad is prosecuted almost entirely with gill-nets. There are no fykes or pounds 

 and only a single haul-seine, which is dragged 9 miles below the railroad crossing. This seine is 

 worked by a crew of six negro men in the most improvident and careless way and to very little 

 profit. 



The gill-nets have a 5 inch mesh and are made of No. 40 twine. They reach to the bottom of 

 the river and are stretched from bank to bank. Whilst in the river they form as effective an ob- 

 struction to the passage of the grown fish as if they were so many impassable dams. Fortunately 

 for the fish, the waters of the Edisto are so clear that the nets are not set during the day, because 

 the fish will not enter them. The nets are put out when the flood tide is three-fourths run, and 

 stand until the ebb tide begins to run strong, when they must be taken up, lest the strength of the 

 current should break the anchoring ropes. Consequently there is but one "laying out" or setting 

 of the net in twenty-four hours, unless the ebb tide makes about sundown, when there is ebb again 

 before sunrise. 



The height and length of the net is made to correspond with the breadth and depth of the 

 river. On each bank is a round pole, to which the end of the net is fastened. These poles are 

 weighted with lead or other heavy material in order to keep them upright. To each pole is attached 

 a " rope bridle." The ropes are brought together and the ends securely fastened to stakes or 

 trunks of trees on the shore. In no case are the nets set at a less distance than 300 yards apart. 

 A State law prohibits their beiug placed nearer. 



