[79] OPERATIONS OF SCHOONER GRAMPUS. 5G9 



more fish have been taken this season tbau for the past three years. 

 Shad fishing ends in May. 



Oapt. Joseph Lonis, of Mobjack Bay, said that there are one hundred 

 traps from New Point Beach to East Eiver, and at this time shad, 

 hickory shad, herring, and menhaden are being caught in them. On 

 the 9th of April a single specimen of the common mackerel was taken 

 in one of the traps. About March 20 fishing was interrupted by a 

 heavy storm. Nevertheless, the fishermen along this shore have done 

 better, according to Captain Louis, than they have for the past eight 

 years. He thinks there are some three hundred men employed in tend- 

 ing the traps above mentioned, but according to Brooks, Hutchins & 

 Co., there ought to be a larger number, since they estimate four men to 

 a trap, and say these traps cost as much as those farther down the bay. 



Captain Louis thinks there are about three hundred traps scattered 

 along the shore from New Point Comfort to the Rappahannock River. 

 The fishery for shad ends about the 1st of June, in that locality, and 

 Spanish mackerel are usually taken about five days later. The fish 

 caught in that region are shipped in sloops to Yorktown and Old Point 

 Comfort, where they are transhipped to the large markets along the 

 Atlantic Coast. 



Mr. William Harord, who owns three traps in Mobjack Bay, and who 

 has had twelve years' experience in trap fishing, makes the statement that 

 fish, and particularly shad, are more plentiful this year than ever before. 

 In the spring of 1887 the first shad were taken on April 9, but this year 

 they were caught on March 2. He has taken as many as 800 shad 

 at one haul this season. He states that there are nearly 175 traps 

 between York Spit and New Point Comfort, each of these employing 

 about three men, the men being paid $20 per month. The average cost 

 of fish traps in this region is believed to be not more than than $200. 

 He told me of one man, Mr. Thomas, who owns a trap, having taken 

 1,150 shad at a siugle haul on April 11. Mr. Harord says that his traps 

 pay about $500 per year each. He stated very emphatically that, in 

 his opinion, the work of the U. S. Pish Commission is exceedingly bene- 

 ficial to the fisheries of Chesapeake Bay region, and this appears to be 

 the general opinion of the people engaged in the fisheries iu all that 

 region which we visited. 



1 learned that the first shad taken in 1887, at Tangier Island, were 

 caught on March 27. There are ten traps on Tangier Island, and they 

 are now all taking shad and herring in great numbers, and a few men- 

 haden were also caught. These traps are taken up on the 1st of June, 

 and are put down again in the middle of August. From the 15th of 

 August to the end of the season sea trout and blue-fish are the princi- 

 pal species taken. The traps in this region cost about $400 apiece, and 

 the average sales of fish amount to $800. 



Iu the vicinity of Mosquito Point, Rappahannock River, there are 

 100 traps, according to Mr. J. H. Smith, and they employ about 300 



