656 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



" Their term of life cannot be ascertained, but it is fair to infer tbat they attain their growth in 

 a year, from the size to which the young attain during their short sojourn in our waters, as well 

 as from the general uniformity of size observed in each of several runs. 



"Their average weight may be about 7 pounds, but individuals are occasionally caught which 

 weigh as high as 12 and even 13 pounds. 



"The numbers of shad taken in the Delaware vary in different seasons. Perhaps it would not 

 be far from the truth to estimate them at 30,000 at each shore fishery. Formerly, when fisheries 

 were fewer, the number far exceeded this amount. 



"I have no data by which to estimate the number caught by the gillitig seines, but from the 

 rapid multiplication of these destructive contrivances it must be very great. 



"The aggregate amount taken annually by the shore-seines and the drift-nets is probably not 

 far short of 1,500,000, which, at $7 per 100, would be worth upwards of $100,000. 



"The principal market is Philadelphia, but immense numbers are vended at the fisheries, to 

 which people flock from all quarters in wagons and boats. 



"The writer has known sixty and seventy wagons supplied in a day (each, perhaps, taking at 

 least 100) at the Fancy Hill fisheries, 6 miles below Philadelphia. The great mass are salted like 

 mackerel, and chiefly for domestic use. In the fresh state they are, in the height of their season, 

 one of the most delicious of any of the finny race, and decidedly the best mode of cooking is that 

 called 'planking,' which consists in nailing the fish to a clean oaken plank, previously heated, 

 and setting it before a brisk fire. By this method the juices of the fish are all preserved. 



"They are sometimes treated like hams, viz, by rubbing them with fine salt, saltpeter, and 

 molasses, and smoked for a few days, and in this way are very superior to those cured with salt 

 alone. 



" The usual and most efficient method of taking the shad is by means of seines. [The description 

 of the construction of the seine, the laying out, and hauling is similar to the methods now in use, 

 and is not therefore reproduced.] The regular shore-nets vary in length from 150 to 500 fathoms. 

 Formerly they were drawn in by manual labor alone. Of late years, however, capstans have 

 been employed to aid in this laborious operation. 



"The number of men required to manage a net varies from fifteen to twenty-five. The whole 

 number employed at the Fancy Hill fisheries, including foremen, clerk, marketmen, tide- watchers, 

 &c., is nearly one hundred. 



"Besides the production of such an amount of healthful and delicious food in quantity generally 

 sufficient to supply the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the fisheries give profitable em- 

 ployment to a great number of men at a season when their services are not particularly required 

 in agricultural labor. 



"The fisheries therefore constitute an important interest to the States bordering on the river 

 and one that merits the fostering care of their respective legislatures. 



"The importance of this species of property was recognized at au early period of our history, 

 when fisheries were comparatively few, and numerous salutary provisions were enacted from time 

 to time in relation to them, whose object was to perpetuate their benefits and secure them to their 

 rightful possessors. 



"Amongst others were those protecting the fisheries from unnecessary interruption by vessels 

 and rafts, which are expressly required to avoid the seines while fishing, and prohibited under 

 severe penalties from anchoring within the fishing range of any of the fisheries. 



"But of late years the legislatures of these States have been so occupied with political 

 maneuvering and management, that they seem to have lost sight of many of the best interests 



