SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 219 



Statement showing the yield in each branch of the shad fisheries of Delaware in 1896. 



NANTICOKE RIVER. 



Most of the eastern tributaries of Chesapeake Bay have their sources 

 in the State of Delaware, yet Nanticoke River is the only one which 

 penetrates that State sufficiently far to maintain shad fisheries within 

 the limits of Delaware. The general physical characteristics of this 

 stream have already been described in the chapter on the shad fisheries 

 of Maryland. The portion situated in Delaware is small, the distance 

 from the State line to Seaford, the head of navigation, being only 8 

 miles. Above Seaford the river is very narrow and shallow and soon 

 terminates in the swamps of Sussex County. The shad fisheries of the 

 Delaware section of Nanticoke River are prosecuted by means of drift 

 nets and seines. The former are used from the Maryland line to Sea- 

 ford, the principal fishing centers being Seaford and Woodland, while 

 seines are operated from 2 miles below Woodland to 2 miles above 

 Seaford. 



The catch of shad by these forms of apparatus in 1896 numbered 

 29,470 and 22,717, respectively, while 280 were taken incidentally in 

 pound nets, making a total yield of 52,467 shad in this section of ISTan- 

 ticoke River. 



The drift nets range from 70 to 90 yards in length, 49 to 55 meshes 

 deep, with 5£ to 5| inch mesh. The season now begins about March 20 

 and ends during the first or second week in May, being somewhat 

 shorter during recent years than formerly. The laws of Delaware 

 interdict the taking of shad in this river after May 31 of each year. 

 In the vicinity of Seaford the water is so clear that all drifting must be 

 done at night, whereas at Sharptown and below fishing is done princi- 

 pally during the day. In 1896 there were 36 boats engaged in drifting 

 in this section of the Nauticoke, using 85 nets, aggregating 7,184 yards 

 in length, and manned by 72 men. The largest catch by any one boat 

 in one day was 148 shad, and the catch during the season ranged from 



