The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-04-08

Cardinals splendid State Museum, ne
finest in the South, is an authority on the
subject of the Birds and Fishes of North
Carolina. He writes most entertain
ingly concerning these subjects, as the
following extracts from an interesting ar
ticle prepared for the News and OBJ
IServer show. z
THE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA
Perhaps no industry in the State has
| had a more even and general advance
| ment during the past two decades than
| that of fishing We may we'll feel roud
| of the fact that North Carolina produces
| in all lines included under that head
more than twice as much as all the rest
of the South Atlantic States combined,
and in regard to persons employed in
the industry, the same proportion also
holds good.
The physical aspect OF the coast line
| is to great degree accountable for The
possibility of such a rich industry exist
| ing along our seaboard, the numerous
sounds and estuaries making exceptional
ly fine fishing grounds that may be
worked to advantage. Recent statisti IS
give our fishery interests a place in ad-
vance even of the great trucking inter-
| eS1S Oh Eastern OdIUllud
Perhaps the most striking feature Of
our methods of fishing is the use of the
enormous steam power seines that are
| operated in the waters OF Albemarle
Sound and around Roanoke Island. Their
| operation is so expensive, a hundred dol
| lars day or more each, that only the
cream Of the run will pay a profit over
their running expenses, and their fish
& ri1U oh
mile and a half of netting dragged
through the water by two steamboats,
and hauled ashore by two stationary n
zines on the beach is fishing on rather
colossal scale, but the catches are often
in proportion to the methods used. Some
almost unthinkable hauls of shad, her.
irng and stripped bass have been made
in these great steam seines.
| Dare county comes first On account OF
it's pre- eminence in the shad fishery, and
of this fish she produces over three mil
lion pouTGs per annum, with a herring
catch aggregating about half that weight.
The total value of Dare countys fisheries
is over three hundred thousand dollars
yearly.
Number two county on the list is Car
teret, with a total value of product of
oyster easily takes first place here; in
fact, about one half the total fishery
output of the county is credited to the
three commercial molluscs, oysters, CLANS
and scallops.
Menhsden, or fatback, fishing is an i'm
pOrtant industry here the total catch
kamounting to ten million pounds or more
yearly. All this vast amount goes into
fertilizers and Oil.
The fresh water fisheries of he north
side of Albemarle Sound and east side
of the lower part of Chowan River, in
Guided in the borders of Chowan county,
are the next in order and here the her
ring or alewife is far in front. Shad is
another fish Of great Importance in this
county, and herring and shad together
comprise about four fifths of the total
value of the annual product.
Onslow county comes fourth on the list
with total catch of more than a hun
dred thousand dollars, nearly two-thirds
of which is due 10 the great oyster in
dustry of the region.
New Hanover county owes more than
third of her fishery prosperity to the
luscious oyster and clam, and her caviar
product is greater than that of any 9th
err county in the State. Something like
hundred thousand pounds of sturgeon
are annually caught which produce some
twelve thousand pounds of caviar besides
the marketable sturgeon meat.
Craven county has a total catch OF
something like seventy five thousand
dollars of which shad constitutes more
than third. Herring. sea trout and
striped bass are other important fishes
Hyde county's total output is made up
almost entirely from the great oyster
and shad fisheries. The Only other pro-
duets of Importance are clans and sea
trout
Currituck county comes eighth and the
noticeable feature here is the catch OF
half a million pounds of black bass
which is probably a greater production
of this valuable fish than occurs any
where else in the country. The county's
other important fishese are shad, perch
and striped bass.
BERTHE county aggregates 4 catch Of
about fifty thousand dollars, about nine-
! tenths of which is shad and irring.
Striped bass is the only other fish of i'm
portance.
Brunswick county is about on a level
with the preceding IL value but the
items are very different Oysters con-
stitute about half and mullet about a
fourth of the product, sea trout and tur-
tie being next
North Cardinals total output of fishery
products is about seventy-lve million
pounds per annum with total value of a
million and half dollars. In this vast
total the nine or ten million pounds of
shad easily lead in value, oysters COM
ing next with a total edible weight of
six or seven million pounds of 4 value of
something like quarter of million
dollars Fifteen million pounds of herring
come third in value, with seq trout
fourth. Mullet WELD nearly hundred
thousand dollars and the valuable striped
bass totals up close to a million pounds.
The silent clam is produced to .ver fifty
thousand dollars worth and a million
pounds in weight and after that the
blue fish stands close up. Nearly
million pounds of perch and over half
a million of black bass makes up thc list
of the ten most valuable pro lEefS of thc
sea found in our waters and it is a list
that no other State III the Union can
touch
L.