Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-04-03

the bunch" as with their sharp teeth
| they play havoc with the net and soon
| free themselves as well as the menha-
den, not only causing the loss Of the
catch" but necessitating a departure
for home, where several days are re-
quired to repair the damage.
FEAST OF DUCK AND GULL
| So much for an abbreviated description
of the capture of the menhaden, in which
| 1 have generally refrained from using
| nautical and local vernacular. so that
/ highland" readers may understand.
Myriads OF these menhaden have for
weeks been cruising northward off the
| southern coast. The schools of large ones
have been driven away out TO sea by the
swarms OF blue-fsh lowering about our
| coast from Hatteras to the Virginia
| Capes. The smaller ones from the same
| cause have been run shoreward. and are
entering the Chesapeake in RATS. The
fisher folk have to be content with these
| little oilless fellows. unless they are
favored with such weather as will permit
! them TO venture twenty-five or thirty
miles 10 sea, But the little fellows are
| furnishing a feast for the water pheasant,
| or shell-duck, as 1t is sometimes called,
| and tho gannet, species OF large gull.
| Millions Of these are just now to be seen
| iAOItn Oh fAlltIdS anu III the CNtSdpedhe
| across the shoals" and down as far as
Lynnhayen bay, and the only idea which
can be given of their ravages upon the
finny tribe may be found in the voracious-
ness Of these birds. The pheasant gorges
| himself with menhaden and can accom-
modate as many as n half dozen before
he rests for digestion TO hold sway.
| Within a few hours he begins business
again, and so the game goes on. When
gorged he floats upon the water, too
heavily laden TO fly, and If disturbed
I seeks obscurity I'm diving-and he Is
skilful one, too. Somewhat different is 1t
with the gannet; he can only dive when
descending from a height, and ii is
pretty sight TO sec the black clouds OF
these deYas'aters soaring above you while
ever and anon they dart headlong with
folded pinions, striking the water like
cannon-ball. from a descent OF hundred
feet or more. Under he goes, TO emerge
80 or 40 yards distant with his craW
laden with tish. He, too, I'm a little while
becomes satiated, and must rest content
10 float upon the brine, or else disgorge
his repast AS stated, he cannot dive
from his position on the waters surface
like the pheasant, so If mOlested or
frightened, he Immediately begins to dis
gorge, one by one, his piscatory prison.
we bore down upon one Of these maraud-
ers to view his antics. one by one eleven
large menhaden were yOmited, and then
he took flight This large gull can swal-
low shad, and as many as fifteen men
haden have been found intact within ones
craw The gannet is termed the scayenger
OF the sea among waterfowl, and IS
worthless to man. Nor is the pheasant
palatable when feeding upon fish, but at
IL. fob,
Nevertheless, while these birds destroy
countless millions Of fish it is Fortunes
decree that few species, save the men
MAIDEN, become their prey. This. we sup
pose, is because OF that fshs sluggish
ness and his propensity to keep at the
surface.
THE RAVENOUS BLUEFISH.
The greatest enemy to the best species
of fish is found in the vicious, voracIous,
and dangerous bluehsh In size, ordi-
narily as long as your arm, with teeth
like barbs, he can snap in halves fish
Of his own size, and nearly all fish stand
in mortal dread Of him. Generally ira
Yelling in schools-sometimes as much as
five miles in length-they will in short
order decimate a school of shad spot.
menhaden, or such like. In his stomach
cording to size. We have opened one
which contained a trout Of almost his
own size, while another contained a shad
nearly as large. Sun others are found
having within themselves one or more Of
their own species Of smaller size. But
their destrucuveness does not end here.
We have seen them behind a school Of
shad, spot, or menhaden, and sometimes
schools OF mackerel and cod, swapping I
and slashing their prey until the water |
is all afoam. They eat until they can !
hold no more, but their yiciousness is /
not abated. With a snap a shad is sun |
dered and spit out, and the next shares I,
the same fate. They never tire, and the |
fish destroyed. but uneaten, cover the I
surface Of tho water.
Without question, the bluefish is by far /
the greatest factor TO be reckoned within. 4
considering the preservation OF our food I
fishes. But mans effort seems to be flu
tile in their extinction or Punishment. :
Nets will not hold him. and only the J
stoutest line (for he is game" in every /
sense OF the world. protected with metal /
about the hook, will withstand his vicious !
swapping The only method by which he |
Is procured for market in our waters is
with hand-line, baited with menhaden.
VI ANtW I@h5ldHu ilS4ilii5
sells, commonly termed "downeastef
smacA-, are now, and will continue du-
ring the summer and fall, fishing off our
capes and in the Chesapeake bay in this
manner. Our own people do little or none
OF this kind OF fishing. The fish, when
by these smacks, are iced in boxes
and barrels. and from Cape Charles, or !
some other railroad point. are shipped 10
northern markets. The numbers caught |
by these craft in comparison with the
myriads TO be found at present in our
waters do not count for anything, and |
yet hundreds OF boats and thousands OF
men are engaged in the industry. IT has |
long been a question among our people
IL the benefits to be derived from these
northern visitors-in the way OF reducing
the number OF bluehsh and the money
they invest with our people for bait and
equal the damage they
do I'm tolling the bluefsh into our
THEY ATTRACT THE BLUEFISH
For weeks these smacks continue TO
scatter dissected menhaden. upon the
oceans surface near the Virginia capes
and attract the bluensh from the ocean
while ON their northward cruise. A
glance at coast chart will discover
as the most eastern extremity
south of the Delaware peninsula. In