Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-04-03
The Potomac Fisheries.
of the WASHINGTON Star.


persons. even in Virginia, are aware that the
fsheries of the Potomac form one OF the most
;pnortaut Interests Of the country. On the
main river and It's tributaries are over one nun
lred Established shores, some ol them VI
lm;ted extent, but u,apy OF them large eStab-
rsbments, employing heavy force OF men and
teams, and requiring large capital and great
exne,ieuce and good judgment IN their man
,semept. The fisheries proper are all above
Matthias Point, all that is done below that
being in limited way, for local supply
This is owing in part to the great expense OF
olnar;nr the hauling ground, filed as 1t Is with
s.ovsttr rock"-large bouidcrs Of oyster shells
and oysters ceuenied in a ma>s-- but more to
the fac, that the water being salt the t-h hold
the channel, and passing on rapidly, do not
snrp,d over the bars and middle grounds I'll
thev .ssrikc' the fieSher water above. The
shores in the vicinity OF Aqua creek do rath-
az large business in favorable seasons III winter
fishery, i. e., for rock, perch and cat fish, hut
1hr nroper fishing season for shad and herring
does not usually open till about the middle OF
March, and continues about sixty days. FOR
this hsnirg Scincs are used according to the
width of the river, from onc-ha!t nile to
mile and a-half in length, and from tathcm to
three or four deep, according to the depth OF
water ishcd OVER, and requiring from thgy to
sixty men to handle them and from four to
eight horses at the capstans, and using up SIX
hours from the time If laying out' till they
are again landed" To meet tie great expense
Of such au establishment, aud secure reason
able profit on the capital invested, there must
be caught during the season over one million
brrriu. aud an equal weight OF shad and bunch
fsh. and these must be sold on favorable
market. This market was formerly at the
shores, to farmers who came from far In the
interior 10 lay in their stock OF fish. This visit
YOU may we'll believe, was an event OF great mn
nortancc TO the planter who had collected all
the surplus bacon, -four. dried fruit, ard per.
haps little apple irck, TO be disposed of IN the
+ towns through which his route lay but to The
few negroes who were permitted to attend mn,
il was the opening Of the gates of the CELESTIAL
city. it was the reward held on: Tor faithful
service, and furnished rich food for talk for
many long year. Siucc the era OF railroads
this whole business is changed and Alexandria
has became the centre of the tl>h trade, the
catch" being sent there daily by sailing yes
sells or steamers, and sold at auction in bulk,
not always and lately not often advautagcousy
, TO the catcher TO chcck;mate the cInhlna-
, tons to depreSs the market the seine men have
this year established their own packing house
in which their ''c1rgo' is l,li If far price Is
no, ibid in the m%rket A large ana rapidly
, increasing busnrs is also done IN Washington
in ice packing.
This consumes the entire catch # the gil
lers' whose Damc j. legion, and whose fish are
thought to be larger, OF at least more evenly
large than the seiuc caught. These OILERS are
not the rongh fishermen Of the pictures but
arc many of them men Of means aud character,
who come on from the Jerseys, PhlladcI-
phia. and other more northern towns, with nets
Of great length and costly boats which ride
safely any storm and reut front to bring
them Inside the law, aud after two months OF
,l;ligcpt ''miniipg their own business return
with well lined pockets Their fish, as have
already said, and Of late many seine caught
fish are sent off in ice by rail to all the north
, and west, and the traveller who starts from
Washington in The morning can sup at ElInlri
, or r ,cllcstcr on Potomac shad that journcycd
with him. The entire result of season is u
catch OF from thirty to fifty millions OF herring
aud an equal weight Of shad and lunch, Ish,
i. G., rock and perch, &c and a bulk OF otaI
which at the lower shores Is equal to one-thlrd
of the saIrablr fish. This furnishes az amount
of food equal to or greater than that furnished
bv the entire annual catch OF goldfish GU the
banks Of Newfoundland. That gives two mil
lions of cod, or about thirty millions of pounds;
this this about twenty million pounds of herring
and an equal weight of all others, Or about Tor
ty millions for a total result.
This ''otfal' is great nuisance and great
drawback CD the fisherman $ profits, aud yet II
, il could be utilized would probably give pecu-
mary results highly satisfactory. The prop!lc
tor of large shore Informs me that in the
proper season it requires the constant labor
, of a man and team to keep his trent clean
enough to be endurablc aud that from four to
six hundred loads are carried of in the season.
=, In the first of the fishing it frequently happens
that large quantities of small fish are crowded
on shore by the voracious fishes following them,
and so many are sometimes ncioscu that
seine is landed with difficulty. These have to
be taken from the water and not turned adriit,
because they would lingcr iu the locality to be
recaught for days Later IN the season, and
espcciaIly if drought, the sources OF the Poto-
mac are low. so that the salt water penetratcs
further inland, immense quantities OF bug
, fish" .-moss bunkcrs-appuar. These having
, the same habit as the herring, swim with them,
and are, when caught being worthless for food,
carried off and added to the sccth!ng mass Of
crawling corruption. When their numbers far
exceed the useful fish, the good are sorted out
while in shallow water before landing, and the
!. rest turned adriit to go and plague some other
fishermen. Sometimes their numbers in pro-
portion to the other fish are so great that fish,
ing becomes Improbable and the ssiLcs are
"cut out and the shore abandoned. At the
shores Immediately above and below Aqua
Creek offal enough could be collected to make;
when composted with the proper proportion of
muck, at least five thousand tons of fertilizer,
equal to the most that is sold with filming GER
tiicates. The muck for composing Is every.
where easily accessible. This muck deposited
10 the lower river is itself almost a fertilizer,
being nearly pure organic matter, which, hav
ing been the home and the grave OF myraids of
the lower forms OF te is highly charged with
heterogeneous matters with this in proper pro,
portion careful manipulation would give
,, cheap!y an article as rich 10 ammonia as most
,, of the recently imported guano, aud containing
nhnSnha1ic and other yaluable ingreden,s