SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 211 



Marshyhope Creek. — The northwest branch of Nanticoke River 

 diverges from the main stream at Riverton, a small village in Wicomico 

 County, and extends about 34 miles to the swamps of Kent County, 

 Deb It has an average depth of 5 or 6 feet up to Federalsburg, 

 20 miles from the mouth, where it is crossed by a milldam. Consider- 

 ing its size, the shad fisheries of Marshyhope Creek are quite extensive. 

 They are prosecuted from the mouth to Federalsburg, but are most 

 extensive about Brookview, known until recently as Crotcher Ferry. 

 The catch in 1890 numbered 38,660 shad, of which 24,920 were taken 

 in drift nets, 7,180 in seines, and 6,560 in small pound nets. 



The drift nets average nearly 100 yards in length, from 49 to 53 ineshe's 

 deep, with 5 to 5^ inch mesh. The season begins usually the last week 

 in March and extends to about May 20. The total catch by the 38 drift- 

 net boats in 1896 was 14,140 roes and 10,780 bucks, valued locally at 

 $2,366. Between Brookview and Federalsburg, on the Marshyhope 

 Creek, there were 8 seines operated. These ranged in length from 40 

 to 150 yards, aggregating 545 yards, with 2£-inch mesh. Forty men 

 were employed in hauling them, the catch being 3,400 roes and 3,780 

 bucks, worth $823. The popular local opinion is adverse to the use of 

 pound nets, yet 12 small nets were used above Brookview in 1896, with 

 a total shad yield of 6,560, almost equally divided between roes and 

 bucks. Several of the pound nets in Marshyhope Creek and a number 

 in the Nanticoke are of an improved pattern, invented and patented 

 by Capt. M. B. Marshall, of Vienna, Md. 



FISHING BAY. 



This bay is a broad estuary, 11 miles in length and 2 or 3 in width, 

 connecting TranSquaking and Blackwater rivers with the head of Tan- 

 gier Sound. The depth of water in (he channel approximates 20 feet, 

 but in the extreme upper end and on the sides of the channel the 

 depth of water averages about 5 feet. During some seasons the shad 

 yield of Fishing Bay is of much local value, but in 1896 it was extremely 

 small, the total catch in that year being about 9,790, whereas the aver- 

 age catch is three or four times that amount, stake nets and pound nets 

 being the apparatus used. 



The stake nets measure 16 or 18 yards in length, with from 5 to 

 5J inch mesh. Being set on the flats at the sides of the channel, they 

 are very shoal, averaging 16 meshes in depth. The last season was 

 short, extending from March 16 to the middle of April, when crabs 

 and eels became so numerous that fishing was abandoned. The catch 

 in the 388 stake nets amounted to 4,300 roe shad and 3,<S65 bucks, 

 valued locally at $991. Of the four small pound nets used, two were 

 located near the entrance of Blackwater River at the head of the bay, 

 and two off Fishing Point, about 6 miles above the mouth of the bay, 

 the yield of shad numbering 660 roes and 965 bucks. The value of 

 these nets and the men, boats, etc., employed are set forth in the tables 

 showing the extent of the Maryland shad fisheries. 



