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REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 183 
perch, $6,512; and squeteague, $6,722. Terrapin and frogs, of the value 
of $2,999; crabs, worth $14,760, and crayfish, valued at $637, complete 
the list of products. 
The aggregate value of the Potomac fisheries in 1890 was $485,523, 
of which sum the fresh-water and anadromous fishes represented 
$202,082, and the salt-water products, $283,441. No separate figures 
for the salt-water fisheries are available for comparison, but in 1880 the 
fresh-water fisheries had a value of $165,505. 
Perhaps the most important feature of the present condition of the 
fisheries is the large number of pound nets employed. In early times 
haul seines were the only kinds of apparatus usedin the shad and alewife 
fishery. About fifty-five years ago gill nets were introduced and gradu- 
ally displaced the seines. Pound nets were first set in the river about 
1875, and have in turn supplanted the gill nets to a considerable extent, 
and are now exerting an important influence on the fisheries; 330 of 
these nets were operated in 1889, 376 in 1890, and 411 in 1891. They 
are particularly numerous near the mouth of the river, and it is thought. 
that the diminished catch of shad in the upper Potomac which has 
been observed in recent years has been partly due to the multiplication 
of these nets in the lower waters. The ultimate effect of the taking of 
larger and larger quantities of shad and other fish before they have 
reached the spawning-grounds can not fail to be harmful, and if the 
fisheries are to be maintained some restrictions will probably soon have 
to be placed on the number, nature, and location of the nets used, or 
artificial propagation will have to be conducted on an increasingly exten- 
sive scale. The greater prominence which the pound net is attain- 
ing in the shad and alewife fisheries is shown in the following table; 
notwithstanding that the aggregate catch of both of these gradually 
declined from 1889 to 1891, the yield in the pound nets advanced each 
year, and the percentage of increase was marked, while the output of 
both the seines and gill nets decreased actually and relatively. 
Statement of the aggregate and proportional catch of shad and alewives in each form of 
apparatus in the Potomac Itiver in 1889, 1890, and 1891, - 
Pound nets. Gill nets. Seines. Total. 
Species and = aay. i= sal ; lea SS 
"Aa apr : » T ay > T int ¥ . i! 
OAL: Number a Per cent. Rupes ol Per cent. arora: T Of Der cent. oe of Per cent. 
Shad : 
TSS8Ol" 4224 a2 219, 679 25. 28 462, 675 53. 29 186, 546 21. 47 868, 900 100. 00 
1890. él 233, 794 31. 96 348, 843 47. 69 148, 816 20. 35 731, 453 100. 00 
1G} bei Sear 251, 760 40. 48 267, 164 42.95 1038, 053 16, 57 621, 977 100. 00 
Total .. 705, 233 31.73 | 1,075, 682 48. 54 438, 415 19.73 2, 222, 330 100. 00- 
Alewives : i se : i Peas 
0st eee ee 10, 371, 620 59. 62 | 1,012,500 5. 82 6, 011, 048 34.56 | 17, 395, 168 100, 00 
1206. ..2.4.,. 11, 200,878] 59.67 | 1, 287, 500 6.86 | 6,282,663 | 33.47 | 18,771,041 | 100.00 
USO Ios. net 12, 809, 362 69. 89 900, 250 4.91 | 4,616,978 25. 20 | 18,326,590 | 100.00 
Total ..| 34, 381, 860 63.09 | 3, 200, 250 5. 87 | 16, 910, 689 31.04 | 54,492,799 | 100. 00 
