THE SAVANNAH RIVER, GEORGIA. 621 
the catch varying from six to fifty in a day, according to the condition of the water and the good 
luck or skill of the fishermen.* 
FISHING WITH HAUL-SEINES AND GILL-NETS.—The use of floating gill-nets is not practicable 
at any point above Augusta on account of the shoals and rapids of the river. Below that city the 
river is navigable for steamboats, and no traps areused. Haul-seines were formerly used at favor- 
able locations all along the river for some 60 miles below Augusta. At Sand Bar Ferry, 5 miles 
below the city, was a noted fishery where the product each season bore no insignificant proportion 
to the entire catch of the river at the present time. These seine-shores are now abandoned, and 
the gillers gain a precarious subsistence by drifting in the empty seine berths. 
Some short seines, gill-nets, and scoop-nets are fished all along the river in an irregular way 
for local supply, but the fishing for market is altogether with (float-seines) gill-nets. From Au- 
gusta to Johnston’s Landing, 60 miles below, there were engaged in gill-net fishing, during the 
season of 1879, fifty nets and boats and one hundred men. The men are all native, about one- 
half being white. In most cases they own boats an@outfit; but some receive their outfit from the 
dealers, to whom they agree to deliver their whole catch at a stipulated price; then from the net 
returns of sales the dealers deduct the cost of boat and nets, paying the fishermen the balance. 
' The average catch to the boat during 1879 was 300, making the total catch of the gillers in 
the upper river 15,000 for the season. 
From Johnston’s Landing down there is no fishing for market until we reach the vicinity of 
Savannah, where we find twenty-five nets and boats and fifty men fishing to supply the Savannah 
market. 
The fishing grounds of the Lower Savannah are the straight reaches of the river for some 
miles above and below the city. The nets are about 100 fathoms long and from forty to fifty meshes 
deep. They are laid out across the channel, and from the extreme narrowness of the river they 
occupy and obstruct a considerable portion of the entire breadth. With twenty-five of these nets 
in the water at once, in échelon, and at no great distances apart, a very effectual obstruction to 
the upward movement of fish is established. 
STURGEON FISHERY.—The sturgeon fisheries of the Savannah are of considerable commercial 
importance. In the lower part of the river, in the vicinity of Savannah, and for some 40 miles 
above, this fish is pursued by professional fishermen from the Northern States, especially Connecticut, 
New Jersey, and Delaware, who later in the season carry on the same work in the Delaware. The 
same nets are earlier in the season kept busy in the Saint Mary’s, the Satillas, and the Altamaha. 
The product of all these fisheries centers at Savannah, and the details are given in full in the sec- 
tion on the subject of the sturgeon trade of that place. 
STATISTICS FOR 1880.—The following isa summary of the fisheries of the Savannah River 
for 1880: 
No of men employed in the fisheries...-.... 2200 seceee cecweescecees ceneee seeeesersss. 331 
Amount of capital employed .... 2.2... 20. .2eeee one LS Sisleisinisivanisise Ce coemesseericscinescen. $9, 395 
Product of the fisheries : 
Sha soe ics seoeewiscestrseeecsisccince nese cnen nwenivewsaccsese di seciseccceceees pounds.. 138, 250 
Btargeon .. 2... 20. nee ee wenn cone coe ee cee cece ee cee teen cone eee tenet eee do.... 88,500 
Mixed: fish cwicces cosas aisiewersmasieuaiseeinles ws aes reser 8 omic oncie auieedce salem do.... 361,500 
Value of products ....- 2... -.00 cece cenccnns ween cece nec eee nee cee e cece cen ecc ee oe dO... $26, 754 
* Cast-nets are used in the Savannah River in fishing for shad, trout, red-horse, &c., and all along the southern 
coast for taking shrimp, mullets, &c. They are likewise in use in all the lakes and small streams of the interior. 
Their use is only possible in comparatively shallow waters with a clear bottom, for if there be rocks or snags the net 
will hang and the fish escape. The cast-net is used to great advantage in-the mouths of the rice trunks. When the 
tide runs down, trout, silversides, and suckers collect in the pools, and are sometimes taken a half bushel at a throw. 
