106 
BULLETIN OP THE UNITED STATES PISH COMMISSION. 
gested by Captain Collins in his paper on improved types of fishing-vessels,* will 
greatly advance the crab interests of Crisfield, as it must the other fisheries of the 
town and region, by making available new and productive fishing grounds, such as 
the marshes referred to. 
5. Fishing season. — The season for soft crabs begins early in May and continues 
until the middle of October, when the oyster fishery becomes paramount. About five 
months of fishing are thus enjoyed, although the actual length of the season varies each 
year within certain limits, depending on the weather. 
6. Abundance of crabs. — The sounds, rivers, creeks, and marshes in the vicinity 
of Crisfield may be said to teem with crabs. So great is the supply, in fact, that it 
seems almost inexhaustible. The fishery will probably never result in serious dimin- 
ution of the species, for as it is now prosecuted only those individuals are taken which 
have come up into comparatively shallow water, while in the deeper water they are 
undisturbed. 
All the testimony available goes to show that in 1887 and 1888 the supply was 
fully equal to, if not in excess of, that of any previous year. 
7. The crul) boats. — None of the boats used in the crab fishery are of sufficient size 
to be documented at the custom-house, the greater number being the small, open sail- 
boats of the style known throughout the Chesapeake region as canoes, corrupted to 
“ kuuuers,” in the vernacular of the fishermen (see plates xxxvii, xxxviii). They 
range from 18 to 25 feet in length, are built of three pieces of timber, are round-bot- 
tomed, have wash-boards, and carry one or two sails and usually a jib. Board-built, 
flat-bottomed bateaux and skiffs are sparingly used, and three or four small sloop- 
rigged, decked boats are also employed (see iilate xxxix). 
The boats vary in value from $20 to $150, the decked boats and canoes being the 
most expensive. Forty dollars would represent about the average value. 
The crew of each boat consists of from one to three men, a large majority of the 
boats carrying only one person. After the close of the crab season the same men en- 
gage in oystering with the same boats. 
8. Apparatus and methods of capture . — Two forms of apparatus are in use in the 
vicinity of Crisfield. One, made of iron bars, known as the dredge or scrape, much 
resembles the ordinary oyster-dredge in shape, but is lighter, and is provided with a 
pocket of netting (see plate XL). It weighs about 20 pounds, and costs from $2.50 
to $4. Dip-nets are also em^iloyed in this fishery, these being most popular with the 
fishermen of the outlying islands, who do but little dredging ; dip-nets are also used at 
Crisfield, but to a limited extent, and are chiefly fished from the unrigged, flat-bot- 
tomed boats. 
Oner or two dredges are carried by each boat, to the side of which they are attached 
by a long rope. The method of using them is as follows : If a stiff breeze is blowing, 
the boat is brought well up to the wind, or i)ut under reefed sails, or both, if necessary, 
and the dredge is thrown overboard and sweeps the bottom. At short intervals the 
boat is brought to and the dredge is pulled up to a small adjustable board platform 
provided for the purpose, extending somewhat obliquely across the boat in front of the 
mainmast and supported on the center board box (see plate xxxvii, b). The contents 
*“ Suggestions for the Employment of Improved Types of Vessels in the Market Fisheries,” etc. 
By J. W. Collins. Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol.'VlII, 1888, pp. 175-192. Wash- 
ington, 1890. 
