SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 131 



taking shad. These range in length from 500 to 600 yards, averag- 

 ing about 575 yards, with 5-inch mesh and from 40 to 50 meshes 

 deep. They are heavily leaded, the leads weighing 2 ounces each and 

 placed 2 or 3 feet apart. The average cost of the nets approximates 

 $125, and 2 men are required for each. They are set directly across the 

 current, one end being buoyed and the other attached to the boat, and 

 are allowed to drift with the current. They are operated during both 

 ebb and flood tides, but usually the flood tides yield larger returns. 



The number of drift nets operated in this section in 1896 was 146, 

 aggregating 83,500 yards in length and $15,625 in value, and requiring 

 the services of 292 men. Comparatively few of these men are natives 

 of Florida, many of them coming from Connecticut and New Jersey 

 and residing in Florida only during the shad season. The catch, which 

 was unusually large, consisted of 125,346 roe shad and 165,770 bucks, 

 valued locally at $47,720. Nearly all of these fish were shipped to New 

 York City and other distant markets. 



From Jacksonville to Bridgeport, a distance of 46 miles, the river is 

 from 2 to 5 miles in width and quite sluggish, so as to preclude the use 

 of drift nets, and no fisheries are operated. 



The Palatka section. — The second division of St. Johns River extends 

 from Bridgeport to Welaka, a distance of 35 miles, located wholly 

 within Putnam County. Drift nets exclusively are used in this stretch 

 of the river, and the fishery is centered at Palatka, a town of 3,000 

 inhabitants. These nets are much shorter than those used below Jack- 

 sonville, averaging in length about 240 yards each, with a scant 5 inch 

 mesh, and costing about $60. The number used in 1896 was 22, each net 

 requiring the services of one boat and usually of two men, although in a 

 few instances a single man operated one net. The water was unusually 

 low, retarding the ascent of fish beyond Welaka, and the yield in this 

 portion of the river was the largest since 1890, the total catch in the 22 

 drift nets numbering 9,550 roe shad and 27,750 bucks, valued locally at 

 $5,222. 



The Palatka fishermen complain considerably of the injury caused by 

 the presence of a species of water hyacinth {Piaropus crassipes) in the 

 river. This plant was introduced into the St. Johns in 1890 from a small 

 pond at Edgewater, near Palatka. It becoming desirable to clean the 

 pond, the plants were thrown into the river, where they flourished 

 luxuriantly, producing masses of flowers and adding an attractive 

 feature to the river scenery. It does not become fixed to the soil, and 

 its movements are governed by the wind and current. During the past 

 three or four years it has increased so abundantly and its range has 

 been so extended as to seriously impede the operations of the fisher- 

 men, being distributed quite generally from Bridgeport to Lake George 

 and existing to some extent as far down the river as Jacksonville. 

 Several of the drift-net reaches in the vicinity of Palatka have been 

 seriously injured by the plant, which gets entangled in the nets and 

 causes much trouble and loss of twine. Occasionally, under favorable 



