SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 209 



Three small seines were operated in 1896 near the headwaters of the 

 river within 4 miles of Salisbury, the length ranging from 145 to 340 

 yards each, with 2^-inch mesh in the bunt. The season for shad began 

 the second week in March and ended the latter part of May, the catch 

 numbering 1,544 roes and 2,510 bucks, worth $452, the seines also taking 

 alewives, striped bass, perch, catfish, etc. 



The fyke nets are not set especially for shad. They are located in the 

 lower portion of the river, 18 sets, or 36 nets, being used in the spring 

 of 1896, requiring 9 men and 5 boats to fish them. The season for shad 

 extended from the middle of March to the middle of May. The yield 

 numbered 635 roes and 667 bucks, making a total catch in the Wicomico 

 of 32,838 roe shad and 35,177 bucks, valued locally at $8,480. Except 

 such as are sold in the immediate locality, most of the shad from this 

 river are sent to Baltimore. 



For several years the State of Maryland has maintained a small shad 

 hatchery at Salisbury, on the Wicomico Eiver, from which several mil- 

 lion fry are annually distributed, not only in the Wicomico but in other 

 streams of the peninsula. 



NANTICOKE EIVER. 



The headwaters of Nanticoke Eiver are in Kent and Sussex counties, 

 Del., uniting in a navigable stream at Seaford and 11 miles lower 

 down crossing into Maryland. About 5 miles from the Delaware line 

 it receives the waters of Marshyhope Creek, and from this junction 

 flows 30 miles to its entrance into the head of Tangier Sound. In the 

 lower 10 miles the river is a mile or more in width and the channel 12 

 to 30 feet deep; thence to Vienna, 25 miles from the mouth, the width 

 is from 500 to 150 yards and the depth about the same as in the lower 

 portion. From Vienna to the entrance of Marshyhope Creek the width is 

 from 200 to 250 yards and the depth generally more than 20 feet. Above 

 that creek the width and depth gradually diminish to 100 yards and 

 8 feet, respectively, at Seaford, where navigation ceases. Kanticoke 

 River ranks third in the extent of its shad fisheries among the Mary- 

 land rivers, being surpassed only by the Choptank and Potomac. The 

 fisheries extend from the mouth to several miles above Seaford, the 

 total yield in 1896 being 216,308 shad, of which 52,467 were obtained in 

 Delaware and 38,660 in Marshyhope Creek, leaving 125,181 as the 

 number taken in the Maryland portion of the main river. The present 

 chapter deals only with the latter section, notes on the portion located 

 in Delaware being reserved for the description of the fisheries of that 

 State. Drift nets, stake nets, pound nets, and fykes are the only forms 

 of apparatus used in the shad fisheries of the Maryland section of the 

 Nanticoke, and over 50 per cent of the yield is obtained by means of 

 the first named. 



Drift nets are operated from Quantico Creek to the Delaware line, 

 and are most numerous from Vienna to Sharptown. They measure 

 from 175 yards in length below Vienna to 115 yards at Galestown, and 

 F. r. 98 14 



