SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 215 



The nets are from 60 to 90 yards in length and are about 55 meshes 

 deep, with 5 to 5£ inch mesh. The 38 boats in 1896 used 117 drift nets, 

 with an aggregate length of 8,802 yards and valuation of $1,140. The 

 season began about the 1st of April and closed, according to law, on 

 May 15. The catch per boat ranged from 200 to 2,000 shad, and aver- 

 aged something over 1,000, the total catch of the 38 boats being 39,670, 

 almost equally divided between roes and bucks, the number of the 

 former being 20,040 and the latter 19,630. 



The seine beaches on Tuckahoe Creek extend from Hillsboro to 

 within 8 miles of the mouth of the river. Eight beaches were occu- 

 pied last year, of which 2 were new ones. The seines range in length 

 from 110 to 300 yards and from 9 to 37 feet in depth, with 2^-inch 

 mesh generally. The catch of shad numbered 9,001 roes and 13,194 

 bucks, the proportion of the roes being smaller than usual. 



Several pound nets and fyke nets are operated from the Talbot side 

 of Tuckahoe Creek, taking a few shad, as well as alewives, perch, cat- 

 fish, etc. Nine pound nets and 34 fykes were used in 1896, the former 

 taking 283 and the latter 196 shad, as appears from the table showing 

 the extent of the Maryland shad fisheries. Except sufficient for local 

 consumption and for sale in the neighboring settlements and towns, 

 all the shad taken on Tuckahoe Creek, as well as on Choptank River, 

 are shipped to Baltimore by the daily steamers connecting that port 

 with the river. 



The local effect of close seasons is well illustrated by the condition 

 on Choptank River and Tuckahoe Creek. In the lower half of the 

 Choptank the shad season begins about the middle of March and ends 

 about the 10th of May, whereas in Tuckahoe Creek and the upper por- 

 tion of the Choptank the season begins about the 1st of April and 

 closes by law on May 15, giving those sections nearly two weeks less of 

 fishing than is enjoyed in the Lower Choptank. As -a matter of fact, 

 taking 1,000 shad after May 15 is generally less injurious to the future 

 prosperity of the fishery than taking an equal number before that date, 

 since the percentage of spawned shad in the former lot is greater than 

 in the latter, thus yielding many more young shad when the fish are 

 caught after May 15 than when taken before that date. Catching a 

 shad immediately before it has spawned certainly prevents it from add- 

 ing its quota to the supply of young fish; but this is also prevented if 

 the shad be caught near the mouth of the river a month or more before 

 its spawning period. It can not be denied, however, that many eggs 

 are destroyed when seines are dragged over the spawning-beds. 



ST. MICHAEL RIVER. 



Eastern Bay is a side elongation of Chesapeake Bay, covering about 

 100 square miles and receiving the waters of the St. Michael, Wye, and 

 smaller rivers. There are few fish in this bay, and the only one of its 

 tributaries in which the shad fishery is of any consequence is St. 

 Michael River. This small estuary, lying wholly in Talbot County, 



