FYKE NETS AND FYKE-NET FISHERIES. 
327 
DELAWARE. 
In proportion to the extent of the general fisheries, the fyke-net fishery of Dela- 
ware is of considerable importance, although very small as compared with that of 
adjoining States. It is carried on from the Delaware Bay and ocean sides of the 
State and also from that part drained by streams flowing into Chesapeake Bay. 
The nets employed are generally of small size, of the style already designated as 
drop fykes ; the average value is only a little over $2. The fish taken in greatest 
numbers are catfish, white and yellow perch, and eels. The average catch to a net is 
only about 80 pounds, and the average stock is only $4, many of the nets being used 
irregularly and for a short period each year. Drop fykes, with a large bow-shaped 
mouth, are fished at some places from September 1 to June 1, chiefly for catfish, which 
are sold mostly in Philadelphia and are usually dressed before shipment. 
A few years ago, at Bombay Hook, 15 fykes, with an entrance 15 feet wide, were 
fished by two men for snapping turtles. The annual stock was $200, which represented 
2,000 pounds of turtles. The latter weighed from 4 to 80 pounds, having an average 
weight of 12 pounds. They were sold in Philadelphia. In the Nanticoke Biver, in Sus- 
sex County, fykes 12 feet long, with the first hoop 6 feet in diameter and with 3 or 4 
funnels, are used for shad, herring, perch, suckers, pike, and striped bass. 
In the Indian River, which drains into the Atlantic south of Cape Henlopen, a 
number of fykes are used during the colder months, when they are lifted three times 
a week. The catch consists largely of perch. 
In 1891 the fyke-net fishery of Delaware had the following extent: 
Fishermen. 
Nets and boats. 
Counties. 
e nets. 
Boats. 
No. 
V alue. 
No. 
Value. 
Kent 
112 
$259 
8 
$120 
Newcastle 
400 
800 
9 
225 
Sussex 
55 
202 
8 
80 
Total 
567 
1,261 
25 
425 
Products. 
Species. 
Kent. 
Newcastle. 
Sussex. 
Total. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Catfish 
6, 500 
2, 760 
$390 
13, 700 
$822 
175 
2, 000 
$100 
22, 200 
6, 200 
$1, 312 
337 
61 
Eels . . . 
162 
3, 500 
Shad 
Stripec bass 
Suckers 
White perch 
Yellow perch 
Other iisli 
1, 001 
300 
61 
1, 001 
240 
200 
32 
900 
90 
45 
1,440 
200 
9, 200 
2, 470 
2, 380 
167 
1,700 
89 
2, 500 
125 
5,000 
2,47 
2, 380 
310 
.123 
524 
123 
59 
59 
Total 
11, 340 
681 
20, 600 
1,212 
13, 151 
698 
45, 091 
2,591 
