THE CRAB FISHERIES. G39 



crabs. These pens were visited several times a day. While being prepared for aiid awaiting 

 shipment, the soft crabs are sometimes kept in large refrigerators. 



Grab fishing has been pursued on the Northern New Jersey coast for many years, and as long 

 ago as 1855 formed an extensive industry. At that time it was customary to tow a small car behind 

 the boat for holding the crabs just ready to shed, many of which would molt before the shore was 

 reached. About twenty years ago the present form of shedding cars was introduced, and since 

 then it has been almost universally adopted by the fishermen. Previous to its introduction, how- 

 ever, pens were made along the shore, in which the shedder crabs were kept until they had become 

 " soft shell." These pens consisted merely of small sections of the shore line fenced off in such a 

 way as to prevent the escape of the crabs, and they reached a short distance into the water. 



During the season of 1880, five hundred and fifteen men and boys were engaged in the crab 

 fisheries of the New Jersey coast between Sandy Hook and Barnegat Inlet. The total catch of 

 soft crabs for that region the same year amounted to 285,825 dozens, valued at $128,612. A fair 

 average daily catch per man is sixty soft crabs, but as many as one hundred and twenty are some- 

 times taken ; some of the best crabbers will make a thousand dollars in a single season, while 

 others make less than a hundred. The average stock is about $250 per man, which would equal a 

 catch of 550 dozens, netting 45 cents a dozen. About 50,000 dozen hard crabs were used in this 

 region as bait during 1880, their value being reckoned at about $6,250. These were partly caught 

 by the fishermen themselves during their leisure hours, and were partly supplied by children who 

 received about 12 cents a dozen for them. It is impossible to make an accurate estimate of the 

 number of hard crabs used as food. The total number of soft crabs consumed along the entire 

 New Jersey coast and shipped from there during 1880 is estimated at 302,075 dozens. For the same 

 region and time, the estimated number of hard crabs used as bait was 59,500 dozens. The total 

 catch of crabs for the New Jersey coast in 1880, therefore, amounted to at least 361,575 dozens, 

 valued at $142,292. 



DELAWARE.* The crab fisheries of Delaware are of considerable importance, especially in 

 Indian Eiver and Bay, and a large part of the male population, as well as a few colored women, are 

 engaged in it to a greater or less extent during the shedding season of the crabs. This fishery is 

 said to have been started at Indian River, in 1873, by two men who came from Long Branch, 

 N. J., for the purpose of catching and shipping crabs to market. Since then, however, the fishery 

 has been wholly carried on by residents of the vicinity. 



Crabs are very plentiful along many portions of the, Delaware Bay shore. Mr. D. R. Tomlin- 

 son, of Dover, states that soft crabs abound on the beaches in the vicinity of Kit's Hammock from 

 the 1st of June to September, and hard crabs from May to November. According to Mr. Van 

 Eurkalow, of Magnolia, both hard and soft crabs may be taken in abundance on the bay shore, 

 but as a rule only enough are caught to supply the local inhabitants. He estimates that about 

 1,000 bushels are secured, during the summer, between Little Creek and Jones's Creek. During a 

 period of very cold weather, in February, 1880, says Mr. A. Hill, of Milford, and immediately after 

 a gale, an enormous quantity of crabs was driven ashore on the west side of Delaware Bay, so 

 many in fact that in some places they lay in windrows on the beaches. One man shipped several 

 barrels of these crabs to Philadelphia, but they did not pay the cost of shipping. But few soft 

 crabs are taken at Lewes, although at least twenty-five thousand hard crabs are caught and dis- 

 posed of annually in that locality. In the towns of Roxanna and Williamsville, and elsewhere 

 along the extreme southern coast of Delaware, no regular crab fishery exists. The most impor- 

 tant crab fisheries of Delaware are those of Indian River. 



* The account of the crab fisheries of Delaware has been furnished by Capt. J. W. Collins, of the U. S. Fish 

 Commission. 



