Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-08-27
CATCHING KING cRAsas
a Unique Industry on the Delaware
River That Lasts Three Months.

unique Industry on the delaware
River That Lasts Three Months.
Down along the shores Of Delaware
bay, on both the New Jersey and Del
aware sides, there is thriving industry
which is seldom heard Of and still more
seldom seen in operation Or, if it is
seen, few persons stop to inquire into it.
The industry in question is the king
crab fishery, and one year l.674.67O Of
the hard shelled crustaceous fellows
were taken from their native element.
while in some years the yield has reached
as high as 100000 The season only
lasts three month, and sometimes less.
The story is told by Hugh NJ Smith Of.
the United States fish commission
The fishery for king crabs. while not
primarily intended to provide food
product, indirectly contributes to that
result, furnishing one of the best fertil-
izers known This variety Of crab, al
though having no value Us an article Of
food, furnishes the basis for an industry
of no little consequence to the com
munity, for. while farmers in most of the
seaboard states utilize small numbers of
the crabs for purposes of fertilization, it
is only in Delaware bay that it can be
said to be well defined industry, and it
is only here that special forms Of appa-
ratus have been employed in capturing
the festive king.
A trip down the bay and an inspection
Of the fisheries proves the industry to be
in a fourishing condition The fishing
seems to center on the Jersey side,
between Cape May Point and Heisler-
vile, twenty miles above. About seven
eights of the entire catch is made be-
tween Dennisyille and Fishing Creek
AT the intervening settlements Of Goshen,
Dias Creek and Green Greek the catch in
round numbers has been 335, 900. 100000
and All 900 crabs respectively.
Two forms of apparatus are in com
mon use along the Jersey shore. One
resembles type Of pound net, but the
other is entirely unlike anything else
used in the waters OF the United States,
and Is designed for and especially
adapted to this fishery
The stakes which form the framework
for the pounds are feet to 10 feet long
and inches to inches in diameter
They are located feet to feet apart.
Te the bottom Of the stakes constituting
the s'hedge," boards one inch thick are
nailed to the height of foot or more;
the bottom of the bowl and the sides to
the height of foot to 25 feet are formed
in the same way The door to the first
bowl is from IS inches to q inches wide
on each side of the leader; the funnel
like entrance to the second bowl is mar
rover, and onlya few crabs pass through
it. The netting consists Of either wire
or twine.
The weir, or stake net, As 1t Is here
called, is very different from the pound
net, although both have some parts in
common. 1t consists of poles or stakes
driven into the muddy or sandy bottoms,
80 as to form leader or hedge wings
and bowl or pound The poles con
stituting the bowl are feet to 10 feet
long and inches to inches il diameter
at their larger ends and | inch TO u
inches in diameter at their smaller ex-
trTiufties. For the wings afd Ieader,
poles from feet to feet long are en-
ployed Tho poles are placed from Il
inches to inches apart TO permit the sea
to wash through
The bowl is somewhat selnicircular in
shape, the extremities Of the brushwork
joining the wings about midway their
length. Its capacity is cncroached upon
by the leader and the door or entrance
to the pound, which is the most import
ant feature Of the apparatus. 1t consists
of wedge shaped platform Of boards
fitting into the space between the wings
as they approach the leader The plat
form is inclined at gentle angle. and is
about five feet long, projecting about
one foot over a support. 1t is iInporta6t
that the pitch of the platform shall not
be too great and that the floor shall not
be too smooth, otherwise the crabs can
not or will not walk upon it The floor
of the bowl is made Of cheap boards to
prevent the crabs scratching holes in the
mud and loosening the poles. Philadel-
mia Record