196 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



but some have 2£-inch mesh for retaining alewives. The season for 

 shad begins the second or third week of March and continues for 

 nearly two months. The yield at the various stations was much less in 

 1896 than in 1895 and several previous years. In the 5 nets set just 

 below the mouth of Little Annemessex Eiver only 1,416 shad were 

 taken in 1896, whereas in 1893 2,100 shad were obtained in one lift of 

 the same nets. The decrease was not confined to shad, but shared in 

 by nearly all the species usually taken. In the spring of 1895 the 5 

 nets above referred to yielded $3,400 worth of fish, while the local 

 value of the catch in the spring of 1896 did not exceed $600. 



The stake nets are located aloug the shore from Tilghman Island to 

 Kent Island. In 1896, 96 nets were set on the shore of Tilghman Island, 

 27 off Sherwood and Wittman, and 31 along the shore of Kent Island, 

 making a total of 154 nets. The number of men employed was 64, and 

 the catch numbered 3,300 roe and 1,320 buck shad, valued locally at 

 $786. This fishery is almost entirely for local use, and comparatively 

 few of the shad thus taken find their way into distant markets. 



From Swan Point to head of Chesapeake Bay. — This section of the 

 Chesapeake, comprising less than one-fourth of the area of the bay 

 proper, is bordered on the east by Kent and Cecil counties and on the 

 west by Baltimore and Harford counties. The depth of water in the 

 channel ranges from 3 to 5 fathoms, yet there are numerous shoals and 

 flats where the depth is from 2 fathoms to a few inches. The water is 

 normally brackish, but during heavy freshets it becomes almost fresh 

 above Spesutie Island. Susquehanna River enters the extreme north- 

 ern end, and on the northeast three arms extend several miles inland, 

 forming the estuaries of Northeast, Elk, and Sassafras rivers. The 

 principal fishing centers are Havre de Grace on the Western Shore, and 

 Charlestown, Northeast, Betterton, Tolchester, and Rock Hall on the 

 Eastern Shore. This is the principal shad region of Chesapeake Bay, 

 as determined by both the quantity and quality of the product. The 

 yield in 1896, although smaller than usual, numbered 130,011 roes and 

 193,132 bucks, of which 87,875 roes and 155,028 bucks were taken by 

 drift nets, 23,524 roes and 13,255 bucks by stake nets, 15,040 roes and 

 18,582 bucks by seines, and 3,572 roes and 6,267 bucks by pound nets, 

 the total local value of the whole being $32,108. 



This is the location of the most valuable drift-net fishery of the 

 Atlantic coast south of Delaware Bay. The nets are operated from 

 the mouth of the Susquehanna down to Poole Island, a distance of 25 

 miles, and at times even below that point. They are also operated in 

 that arm of the Chesapeake known as North East Eiver and in the 

 extreme lower ends of Elk and Sassafras rivers. The depth of water in 

 which they are drifted ranges all the way from 3 or 4 to 30 feet, but 

 most of the nets are designed for use in 14 to 18 feet of water. From 

 400 to 2,000 yards of twine are carried by each boat, the total for the 

 191 boats operating in 1896 being 249,030 yards. This is usually cut 



