Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1891-11-05
CATCHING KING CRABS.
Uniqu. Industry on the Delaware
River That Lasts Three Months.

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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 1.614,610 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 as 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 hourishing 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 Dennisville and Fishing Creek.
! At the intervening settlements of Goshen,
Dias Creek and Green Creek the catch in
round numbers has been 335 900, 40, 900
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 4 inches to inches in diameter
! They are located feet to feet apart.
To the bottom of the stakes, constituting
the "hedge," boards one inch thick are
nailed to the height of a foot or more:
| the bottom of the bowl and the sides to
the height of foot to p feet are formed
in the same way. The door to the first
bowl is from IS inches to "A inches wide
! Il, - IL ae h. 1oo1a,-. hA F,,,,n1
like entrance to the second bowl is mar
rover. and only few crabs pass through
it. The netting consists of either wire
or twine.
The Weir, or ''stake net, as it 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,
so 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 4 inches in diameter
at their larger ends and 1 inch to II
inches in diameter at their smaller ex-
tremities For the wings and leader,
poles from feet to feet long are en-
ployed. The poles are placed from 1!
inches to 3 inches apart to permit the sea
TO wash through.
The bowl is somewhat semicircular in
shape, the extremities of the brushwork
joining the wings about midway thei1
length. It's capacity is encroached 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 important
that the pitch of the platform shall moi
be too great and that the floor shall not
be too smooth, otherwise the crabs can.
not or will not walk upon it. The fool
of the bowl is made of cheap boards tc
prevent the crabs scratching holes in the
mud and loosening the poles. -Philadel
phia Record.