186 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Albemarle Sound is said to be tlie largest coastal body of fresh water iu the world, 
and it is certainly the largest of the kind in the United States. It is GO miles long 
from east to west, and has a maximum width of 15 miles and an average width of 6 
or 8 miles; its area is 453 square miles. At its eastern extremity it communicates on 
the north with Currituck Sound, and on the south it merges into Roanoke and Croatan 
sounds, through which it enters the ocean by means of openings in the sandy “banks” 
which skirt the ocean front of the State. 
The shores of the sound are low throughout and for the most part marshy; they 
are. very generally fringed by cypress, juniper, and other trees which are characteristic 
features of the paludal sections of this State. Some of the longest rivers of the State 
empty into the sound and numerous short streams enter it. On its northern shore, 
four short rivers, rising in swampy areas in or adjacent to the Dismal Swamp, enter 
the sound by wide mouths; these are the North, Pasquotank, Little, and Perquimans 
rivers. At the extreme western end of the sound, the Chowan River terminates on 
the northern side iu a broad estuary, and the Roanoke River, flowing from the west, 
enters by two narrow mouths. On the southern side, there are two short, sluggish 
streams known as the Alligator and Scuppernong rivers. 
Viewed from the standpoint of commercial fishing, the Albemarle Sound region 
is one of the most important in the United States, and there is no other fresh-water 
basin on the Atlantic coast having such extensive fisheries. The especially prominent 
fish occurring here are the shad, alewives, striped bass, black bass, and white perch. 
The seine fisheries for shad and alewives are by far the largest in the country. In 
1890 the following quantities of the more important economic fishes were taken in 
the sound and its tributaries, the total output reaching the enormous quantity of 
18,663,102 pounds, with a value to the fishermen of $439,581 : 
Species. 
Pounds. 
V alue. 
13, 723, 573 
386, 090 
21, 685 
145, 700 
32, 010 
3, 138, 160 
28, 075 
474, 744 
118, 085 
414, 745 
180, 235 
$140, 647 
19, 206 
651 
9,414 
1, 545 
217, 206 
1, 106 
25, 320 
3,467 
15, 492 
5, 527 
Pike 
Shad 
Collections were made at numerous places in the basins of the Pasquotank and 
Roanoke rivers, and in Edenton Bay, at the mouth of the Chowan River. In the 
following pages the localities in which collecting was done are described and the 
species found in each of the different sections are enumerated. The physical conditions 
prevailing at the time of the investigation were somewhat unfavorable. The water 
temperature, elsewhere recorded, was very low and no doubt kept the smaller fishes in 
the deepest parts of the streams, where they were least accessible. High, muddy water 
was generally met with, which, together with large quantities of drift wood, greatly 
interfered with seining and reduced to some extent the number of specimens and 
species obtained. To these circumstances is to be especially attributed the relative 
scarcity, as regards both species and individuals, of cypriuoids and other small fish, 
as shown in the following lists. Nevertheless it is thought that the collection is 
sufficiently complete to convey a satisfactory idea of the fish life of the region. 
