The sun., 1903-05-03
MISCHIEF DONE ny POUND NETS.
A Great wall Going Up From the Line
Fishermen as the Jcrsey Season Begins.

SEA ISLE Cry, n. j.. May a.-The pound
net fishermen began operations along the
Jersey coast this week, and the rod and
reel fishermen are raising their annual IN
dignant protests against the depreda-
tions they cay the big fish traps work TO
the hand-lne fishing In the inside waters
Of the bays and inlets. 49,. a.,,,
pourd nets along the coast between sandy
Hook and Cape May Point rive years
ago there was not net on 'he coaHt "!
Cape May county Now there are eignt
pounds within stretch OF tweh.y..w,o y,o
are placed close TO the deep inlets 'eaaihs
to tho inside waters, ard there Is ho1 a
doubt that they ensnare thousands OF hs.i
which are seeking an entrance 20 tne pay
to spawn All OF these pound nets are
in the highway travelled by the EreaI seno1,o thn
coast, Their extreme outside limit Is less
than a mile from the beach, making ~ al
most impossible for the fish TO avoid Iheih
in reaching the spawning grounds:
The fact that the inside fishing III soutn
Jersey waters has become poorer every year
since the introduction oil pound nets is
undisputed. A decade ago all OF ne pafs
in that section fairly teemed with weak
fish. kngfsh, bluefsh and sheepsneau'
and it was common occurrence IN ai
angler to catch 100 weakfisl in tide iheie
is sti fair fishing TO be had, but ohly IN
the waters whose fnlets from the sea are
not blocked by a pourd let. . 80,
Those who have never seen poutu ne,
have no idea of it's fish-catching capaoity.
There are three parts to the net, tne "e'1 I'll ol
leader. the forebay and the POCKET. tle &
leader starts about half a mile from tne
beach. Poles seventy feet long are planted
twenty-five feet apart, nearly thousandd nd
feet of to sea- Attached to these ana
reaching from the surface TO the potloih
is a seine, which leads into the loreoay. d
opening from twelve to fifteen feet Woo.
leads into the pocket. square-shapco het
inclosure.
The big schools of fish sw INNING, up, or
down the coast encounter the weir. or ieauer'
net. and. as fish meeting, an obstruc',3n
will always swim toward deep water the
entire school will follow the leader net ana
enter the forebay. This is the trap OF
pound net. 1t is 80 constructed that entrance
70 ii is easy, but escape almost inPossiD'e'
Once in the forebay, the fish nose alons tne
sides of the net and finally make r their way, way
into the pocket or square net. There they
remain until the fishermen raise the bottom.
When fish are running plentifully along
the coast it is not unusual to see from sixty
to seventy barrels Of fish taken from
pound net at haul, Each barrel contains
$50 pounds of fish and as the fish average
two pounds apiece, there are thus no less
than 600 fish taken in days catch.
The pound net fishing season extends
from April Is to Oct. IS. and during the SIX
months the fishermen call the season poor
ono if their catch falls below 800 600 pounds
to the net.
From now on until the fishing season
closes, the Jersey pound net fishermen
will send close to 25 100000 pounds OF food
fish to the city markets of the East, in ad-
ition to supplying the thousands OF pleasure
seekers who visit the seaside resorts. In
meeting the accusation Of the rod and reel
fishermen that their huge nets hurt the
fishing in the inside waters, the pound fisher
men point to the fact that since the intro
ducton Of pound fisheries, the poor OF the
cities have received wholesome iood at
small cost.