540 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
loosened from the stake and carried to the opposite bank, and whatever fish have been inclosed 
are hauled to the shore. 
The almost invariable rule for setting gill-nets has also been described in the notes on the 
spot fishery. When setting the seines it rarely, if ever, happens that the fishermen see the fish 
schooling. Long experience has taught them where and when it will be most desirable to use 
their apparatus. It frequently happens, therefore, that they make “ water-hauls,” but at the same 
time they are liable to obtain a considerable capture. 
4. DISPOSITION OF THE CATOH. 
North of Cape Henlopen a large percentage of the rock and perch taken are sold locally or 
disposed of by peddlers, or by the fishermen themselves to the inhabitants of the interior towns ; 
the remainder is shipped to Philadelphia and New York. In the region south of Cape Henlopen, 
however, the reverse is the case, a large percentage being shipped to the city markets. At Mills- 
borough, Williamsville, and some of the other towns, the catch is bought up by local dealers, who 
pack the fish in boxes, and send them away by rail to their agents and commission merchants in 
New York and Philadelphia. 
Mr. E. W. Houston, of Millsborough, in 1880, handled 2,000 (?) pounds of rockfish, and 1,000 
pounds of perch; all of which he shipped by rail. 
Through the kindness of Mr. Custis Burton, the railroad agent and express agent at Mills- 
borough, we have been enabled to state the exact amount of fish sent from that station for the dif: 
ferent months, from December 1, 1879, to December 1, 1880: 
. Dates of shipment. Pounds. 
December, 1879 ........---..-. 5,715 
January, 1880 ......-.......06+ 4,075 
February, 1880..........-.5-.- 4,130 
March, 1880............- 2000+ 5, 755 
BPEL TBR ocseacciwnerinina nts 8, 020 
October, 1880...-...........8-- 175 
November, 1880.......-...---- 9, 187 
4 Total os oacaiscisisiesemiece 37, 007 
i The first shipment in the fall of 1880 was made October 28. The fish thus sent to market are 
rock, perch, herring, and eels. From October to March they were nearly all rock and perch, and 
in March and April mostly herring. No shipments of any kind of fish are made from April to 
October, as a rule. Sometimes the people send a small lot by express to their friends in the cities 
and towns along the line of the railroad, but none go to the markets. The shipments in winter are 
pretty equally divided between Philadelphia and New York, and a smaller amount goes to Wil- 
mington and Chester. 
4.—_THE STURGEON FISHERY OF DELAWARE BAY. 
1. STURGEON FISHERY AT BOWERS’ BEACH. 
According to Mr. Samuel Wyatt, a resident of Bowers’ Beach, there is no one engaged 
in fishing for sturgeon from that place. There are, however, during the month of April twelve or 
fifteen vessels, ranging from 15 to 20 tons each, employed in the sturgeon fishery in that locality. 
