168 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



about the end of February and closes the second week of May. The 

 catch in the 178 stake nets set in 1896 was 1,499 roe shad and 1,042 

 bucks. Seventy bow nets were used on the Contentnea between the 

 mouth and Stantonsburg, yielding 609 roe shad and 1,310 bucks. 

 These bow nets differ in no particular from those used in taking shad 

 in other Atlantic coast streams. 



Little River. — About 2 miles above Goldsboro the Neuse receives the 

 waters of Little River, which is nearly 100 miles in length. Shad 

 ascend as far as Whitley Mills, about 15 miles from the mouth, the 

 numerous milldams obstructing their further passage. In the length 

 below Whitley Mills a few shad are taken by means of seines and bow 

 nets, the season beginning about the end of February and ending 

 during the second or third week of May. In 1896 two 65-yard seines 

 were used on Little River, one 6 miles and the other 11 miles above 

 the Neuse, the yield of shad being 186, of which 60 per cent were bucks. 

 Bow nets are used at various points below Whitley Mills, the total 

 number reported in 1896 being 1 7, with a catch of 300 shad. 



PAMLICO TAR RIVER. 



Pamlico and Tar rivers are different sections of a single stream, the 

 name changing near the town of Washington, N. O. The lower portion, 

 Pamlico River, has a length of 37 miles, and the upper portion, Tar 

 River, is 180 miles long, giving a total length of 217 miles. The 

 Pamlico length is really an arm of Pamlico Sound, whereas Tar River 

 has all the usual fluvial characteristics. Tarboro, 49 miles above Wash- 

 ington, is the present head of navigation. Above that town the river 

 is 90 to 200 feet in width with a gentle slope, affording ample passage 

 for the ascent of shad 36 miles to Rocky Mount, where farther progress 

 is barred by a natural fall of about 20 feet, utilized for mill purposes, 

 the site of the first cotton mill in North Carolina, erected in 1817. The 

 shad fisheries of Pamlico-Tar River extend from the mouth to a short 

 distance below Rocky Mount, the yield in 1896 being 32,601 roe shad 

 and 34,481 bucks. The apparatus used consists of seines, stake nets, 

 drift nets, pound nets, and bow nets, the first named yielding nearly 

 60 per cent of the total product 



Seines are operated from Core Point, 16 miles below Washington, to 

 Pillsboro Landing, 33 miles above that town. Those below Washington 

 range in length from 450 to 1,000 yards, and above that town the length 

 of the seines is from 50 to 200 yards, one or two seines being used at 

 each beach. The mesh is from 2 to 2£ inches in the bunt, and from 4 

 to 9 men are required for each seine. The season begins usually during 

 the first week of February below Washington, and about two weeks 

 later in the upper portions of the river. The catch in 1896 was the 

 smallest for several years, the yield at the 32 beaches on the river being 

 only 38,693 shad, while 30 seines are reported as taking 108,728 shad 

 in 1890. The weather was unfavorable for an early start and high 

 water limited the operations at many of the beaches. Of the yield 



