The Penn's Grove record., 1885-06-13

t ava AHtN NlttAN v alien. /
e.. tasgrsvc, So learn lim how To put
a e sae lerseymen were ule ars4
aie- .n Develop sturgeon fishing indus
uy oi Delaware bay and river ana AZ
,gr q few Delawareaus have learned
the trade from chem they propose now
90 driret!ttm Of Need Justice talk a.
boat greed aud show ms envy? or course
there has beer no disposition to treat
New Jersey unfairly or unkindly. Il
was only is years ago that Delaware
sent Q tug boat into the river and cap
tsecd several pennsCrOve boats and nets
on the Jersey side of the river. D-la-
wdTe also compelled several Pnnsgrove
fishermen TO pay $50 license to fish in
tueIr W state and they are out that
much vet. The law passed this spring
was only All amendment to The law en-
forced them. Jerseynen knew her dispo-
sIt u then and il the same now. enyious
ai.3 jealous Of Jersey enterprise and in
uustry. They raised their cry D 60
soon. 1t was a happy DAY for Bowers.
IOrt Penn, aud Delaware City when
Jne 4ersey fishermen .'captursd those
places, for they buy all OF their supplies
there during the fishing season and
leave thousands Of dollars. T j. Tor
ion spent at Port Penn the week before
LIS nets were stolen So for supplies.
Ir. Benler the boarding house keeper
says lie generally makes about $3.50. of
LIE fishermen during the season and
lhs remainder Of the year he does not
make expenses. The Delaware CITY
Steamboat Co. carries So worth uG
freight for the sturgeon shippers a day
in the height of the season. This is
Jersey greed toward Delaware.
1T is true We have d small sturgeon
fishing ground at Bowers. Ii is only
4 small inside channel, most probably
made by the several creeks emptying
into The bay at this point; it is about
half a mile wide and some Y miles long
and Delaware already has as many nets
as can be conveniently hshed there
without admitting all the nets Of New
Jersey and Pennsylvania"
II is generally flat where they fish.
The channel al the mouth Of the creeks
will not extend over d mile into the
bay The depth ofthe water on these fats
viii vary but few feet in depth from
100 yards from shore fer 4 or 5 miles
towards the middle OF the bay which is
80 miles wide. The fishing grounds PIX
toild from Jones to below MispHlon,
a distance Of % miles. Tie distance
bet ween the nets layed off to the east
ward and those nearest shore is often ?
or 3 miles. Sturgeon nets are 800 yards
long. The LIS Jersey ue.s Will streteh
across this distance - times ana b.
more than ? miles apart. JerssyfnaA
have never intiInidate1 or mo,esbe1
the Delaware fishermen from fishing
there and all have the same adqanta-
yes and have fished ~peaeeably together
as there is for all. Dtlaware's
Y nets 9ow want this - square miles
to fish in. Need Justice talk about greed.
Why do Jerseymea go to the Della ware
side TO fish? Because all the best fish
ing is on t be Delaware side of the Bay,
both shad and sturgeon, mp to Be+dg
island. The sturgeon come there IL is
supposed because the water is more
shallow than on the Jersey side, ccGse-
que1tly warmer; also because it is there
best feeding ground but.it is not known
what they feed Oh. When our fisher
mel put up ut Bay Side they catch
nearly all their fish west Of tie chan
mel along bombay Hook Roads. The
sturgeon men have always begun their
season at Bowers aud Z of the firms
close at Bay Side. Very few fish have
been shipped from Pennsgrove for
years as they are nearly all caught be-
fore they reach here.
"In regards to the shad fishing New
Jersey has some 90 miles Of tide water
gill net sIlad fishing, from Bay Side to
Trenton aud all the rest of the river
for seine fishing for the New York state
line.'' The Delaware river above
Trenton is hardly deep enough to float
a fishing boat let alone a seine. No
shad are caught there worth mention
ing. "Pennsylyania has about s.
miles of like tide water fishing and the
and the rest Of the riyerfor seine fish
ing the same as New Jersey. Della
ware has about 40 miles of this tide
fishing fUr shad and the rest Of her Bay
is not adapted to il. In the height OF
the shad fishing, any a passing up
the river and seeing the large number
Of nets spread I'VE This 90 miles would
( wonder how it was possible for a shst
TO get up. delaware has from Port
Penn down about 10 miles Of what they
call the bay fishing. All the fishermen
of the Delaware river follow ~ other
business in the spring and they are all
ready TO catch the first shad. They cah
not have patience 10 wait a few days
for them 10 come up the river, although
they are fast swimmers; they know The
first shad comes III at Lewes and they
all come pelLme1l in floating cabins
aud boats of all kinds aud back them
into our creeks and inlets and COM
meDce to fish for that shad as soon as
winter is over. 1t is easy TO imagine
how thick The nets become on this -
miles of Delaware's fishing ground and
how completely our " fishermen are
crowded out Of their own rights. One
Of them told me that just before the
passage Of this law he roamed for two
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