SHAD FISHERIES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 221 



Broadkiln Creek. — This creek is situated in Sussex County and emp- 

 ties into Delaware Bay a short distance above the breakwater at Lewes. 

 It is nearly 20 miles long, navigable to Milton, a town of 1,200 inhab- 

 itants, about 14 miles from the mouth. According to Dr. Shortlidge, 

 formerly fish commissioner of Delaware, shad were not caught in 

 Broadkiln Creek previous to plantings of fry made there about eight 

 years ago. They are now taken in some abundance by means of seines 

 and drift nets. The run in 1896 was smaller than usual, in 1895 it was 

 fair, while the catch in 1892 was the best on the creek. In 189G, 18 

 seines were used, with an aggregate length of 1,580 yards, and worth 

 $370. The catch of shad numbered G,185 roes and 7,020 bucks, with a 

 local valuation of $2,139. A State regulation makes it "unlawful for 

 any person or persons to make more than one haul on the ebb tide and 

 one haul on the flood tide for the taking of shad in Broadkiln Biver, or 

 to use the rattler, which is made to scare the shad, or to use anything 

 that might be conceived of to drive the shad," and that the seine shall 

 not remain across the river longer than one hour on each tide, but it 

 does not appear that these regulations are enforced. The drift nets 

 numbered 13, with an aggregate length of 600 yards, and a valuation 

 of $43, and the catch numbered 1,033 roes and 1,662 bucks, worth $387 

 at local prices. 



Mispillion Creek. — This is a narrow, tortuous, sand-hill creek, enter- 

 ing Delaware Bay about 17 miles northwest of Cape Henlopen. Near 

 its mouth it averages 80 yards in width, and in the vicinity of Milford, 

 the head of navigation, 18 miles from the mouth, the average width is 

 about 30 yards. The apparatus used for taking shad are drift nets and 

 a few seines. The former measure 50 yards in length, with 5^-inch 

 mesh, and require the services of one boat and one or two men each. 

 Most of the 60 drift-net fishermen live at Milford, and they fish between 

 that point and 14 miles below. The number of nets employed in 1896 

 was 50, the catch by which is reported at 26,000 roe shad and 21,500 

 bucks. Four shad seines were used on the Mispillion in the vicinity of 

 Milford, averaging 80 yards in length, with 2-inch mesh, and requiring 

 the services of 4 men each. The catch of shad numbered 3,180, about 

 equally divided between roes and bucks, with a local value of $643. 



Murderkill Creek. — This creek is navigable from the mouth to Quillen 

 Landing, 5 miles above Fredericka and about 12£ miles from Delaware 

 Bay. Its shad fisheries are of small extent, confined to the use of a 

 few drift nets, seines, and bow nets by men living at Fredericka. The 

 seines used numbered 6, with an aggregate length of 480 yards, the 

 yield of shad approximating 2,900, worth $569, of which 1,700 were 

 roes. Twenty drift nets were used during the same year, catching 

 3,500 shad, worth $693, of which about three-fifths were roes. The 

 Murderkill is the only river in Delaware from which the use of bow 

 nets is reported. The catch by the 10 nets was reported at 1,300 roe 

 shad and 1,000 bucks, worth $445, making an aggregate of 8,700 as the 

 total yield in 1896. 



