The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-31
POTOMAC RIVER FISHERIES
A Time When They Were Mosl
Valuable Possessions.
shaJ. Herring. Starseen. and other
FaIntnbIe Denixens of the Waters
in Wonderful Professions - The
supply Now Greatly Diminished.


I supply Now Greatly Diminished.
The shad, herring and other fisheries OF
| the Potomac and its tributaries were, in
| former days of greater value than at
present II was early recognized In the
| history of both Virginia and Maryland
i, that laws were necessary to protect the
| fish in the streams. and hence. in 1868. an
act was passed by the Maryland LegIs-
| lature prohibiting ihe destruction OF
| Young fish by weirs and DAMS the penal
! ~ for violation OF this law being SEQ.
This law became permanent in 1888 As
| early as 1875 an act was passed to prevent
persons from visiting the Patuxent River
with cords or poles from the commence
ment of February to the beginning of
I June. the penalty being si0e for white
| person, and II slave IL WAS ten lashes
| on the bare back. unless the slave was
! redeemed 10y his masters payment OF $40
| In the early days, many thousands Of
! fish We're taken each season. and some
Times very large hauls were made. This
season usually lasted from five to seven
weeks. beginning about the last of March
and ending early in May. Some writer's
IN this subject say that l,000.O0O barrels OF
| herring was not too high estimate for
| the number of fish taken in a season.
|
fish of the Potomac. II is said that, next
TO a small and delicate Nova Scotia her
ring. the Potomac herring was more nu-
| tritious by far than any others in the
waters of the United States.
| The shad, rockfish, and sturgeon from
the same stream. according to epicures.
| had a flavor superior to any others in the
| Union. In 1890 when Jonathan Elliott
wrote the Ten Miles Square" fife sind
were wori;. e per hundred: Fails" shad.
| Sl2 per hundred; herring. 81 per hundred;
rockiish. from g to 81 per thousand, and
| sturgeon. cents per pound. The weight
| OF each kind of fish found in the Potomac
| is given in the same work as follows:
! "Studgeon. 40 to 100 pounds; rockfish.
| to % pounds; shad. pounds: tailor.
pounds; gar, pounds: eel. fresh water, )
pounds: common, IL pounds; carp.
pounds; herring, pounds: pike. pounds;
perch. white, l pound: perch. yellow, l
pound: muilet, fine scaled, l pound;
| corasc scaled. half-pound.
OLD SYCAMORE LANDING.
| Sycamore Landing. thirty miles below
! Washington, owned by General Mason.
was a noted fishery some three-quarters
of century ago. At this place. about
the year 1895. at one draught of the seine.
| 80 rockfish were said to have been ia
ken, the average weight of each fish be-
| ing sixty pounds. 1t was then and is
| now. habit of many species of fish to
annually ascend the Potomac and other
| rivers that flow into the Atlantic to fresh
| water, to deposit their eggs. thus pro-
Vidiag at the same time for the continue
| ance of their species and an abundant
supply of nutritious food for man. The
| principal kinds of these migratory fish
| thus ascending the Potomac were. and
| are. the shad herring. and sturgeon, the
| first two kinds ascending the rivers to
\ fresh water annually. and the latter
| n nd he
! other in August. The sturgeon is said
| to have been in the early days taken in
| great quantities bstween Georgetown and
| the Little Falls. The fish Is sometimes of
| Il very large size. weighing from 30 to $50
pounds. One remarkable fact about this
member of the piscatoriai family. ae-
coTtiing to the early writer's, was that
while it was considered a great delicacy
| In the James the Potomac. and the Hud-
| son, yet In the Delaware it was esteem
ed OF little value. The sturgeon was
caught with floating nets with large
| meshes. or with an ingenioasly contrived
| nook not provided with bait for the fish
| to swallow. but with Il curious device
! prepared in such way as to pierce him
l in the body deeply as to securely hold
| him and bring him in
| The great fisheries for herring in ear
1 lier days. We're situated between Wash
l ington and the mouth of Aqua Creek.
| fifty miles below the city. The principal
| fisheries for shad We're confined to yet
stricter limits between the mouth of the
| ocoquan River on the right bank of the
/ Potomac and the shores just above Fort
| Washington ON the left bank: OF from
4 fifteen to thlrty-fiye miles below Wash
| ingten. Many herring indeed. are caught
| above and below these limits at the pres
| eut time, but not nearly many as
| within them
Some of the finest shad are caught in
| drop nets-two or three at time-at the
1 foot OF Little Falls. On account of its
| remarkable agility the fish is sometimes
| enabled to ascend the rapids. the fall of
! the water here being only about thirty
| feet in three miles. and the fish having
| surmounted the falls. are then found as
far up as the Great Falls.
Herring. however, never manage TO get
| above the Little Falls. OF this kind Of
1 fish from 100 to 100000 were often taken
| at single haul of the seine. and of shad.
| according to some accounts. from 10 900 to
| l5.GD Were occasionally drawn at a time.
| The seines were very large. being from
\ 800 to leo yards long. and were hauled
| in by means of long. stout ropes and cap
| STAINS fixed on shore. The Seines used at
the best shad landings were constructed
| of such large meshes that the herring es-
| capped, thus saving time and expense by
| separating the two kinds of fish.
| sHAD OF GREAT EXCELLENCE
! According to one of the authorities Of
| the Fish Commission. the Potomac has
| always been celebrated for the excellency
! and value of its shad and herring fisher
| les. Reports of their magnitude have not
| only systematically been kept by the
1
\ but have been secured from the accounts
| of early authors. According to these
4 more or less traditional accounts, the
| productions then, as compared with the
present. We're simply fabulous. The Po-
| tomac fisheries annually decreased in val
ne and production up to the time of the
| war.
| The Intermission which then enslled in
/ fishing operations allowed the fisheries to
recuperate. so that, in the years immedi-
| ately subsequent to the war. 1t was
| found that they had. in a measure, re-
covered from their former depletion. In
| 1875. the minimum of production was at
| tanned. during which season less than
| 20J 900 Shad were taken in the entire river.
| In 1873 the result of the Fish Commits
sion's artificial propaganda first mani
| tested itself, and since that time there
| has been a steady increase in the run of
| Sbad.
| The early fisheries on the Potomac
| We're prosecuted almost entirely by means
! of haul nets. but in 1888 gill nets were
| introduced from the North, which steadi-
| ~ grew in favor, and up to about 1919
| were almost exclusively employed. In
| that year. pound nets were introduced.
| and these rapidly superseded the gill nets.
as the gill nets had previously suppressed
| ed the hauts or seines.
| THE YARN OF VETERAN.
About June 10. 1855 an Atlantic sslmon
| was caught in the Potomac, which was
prcbab bly, the first that has ever been seen
| in the river. An amusing statement was
lately made by a member of the Oldest
| Inhabitants Association at one OF the
| meetings of that society. The old gentle
| man asserted that he distinctly remem-
Iered the time when one could walk
( across the river at Analostan Island on
| thu. hacks OF the sturgeon. This sensa-
! tinnal observation created something OF
| "A stir in the meeting and Drought down.
| mpan tho speaker much contradiction and
| railltry. but he stoutly maintained the
| accuracy Of his assertion.