Evening journal., 1912-04-16
WEALTH Y! H in
RIVER FISH
Delaware City Men Grow Rich
Catching the : Her.
ring
SMALL FORTUNE IN
RIVER FISHING NETS

Special to THE EVENING JOURNAL.
DELAWARE CITY, April 16--This
is the golden harvest OF the Delaware
River fishermen and already the
banks in the New Castle county
towns are showing large deposits Of
solid cash. There is no doubt that
the fishing season resembles the
strawberry and peach crops In
southern Delaware. There are no
hard times among the people Of the
river towns Herring are coming in
by the thousands and Delaware and
Chester county dealers are here every
night for loads Especially is this
true the evenings after the locks have
not been opened since midnight The
herring leave the Delaware River
and in the lock they form one squirm-
ing mass trying 10 get the fresh Va
ter Of the Chesapeake and Delaware
canals oozine out al the lock gate
There have been record catches here
in former years when as high as 1907
600 herring were caught In a day
The men who work the locks for the
caual company have a big net which
they drop 10 the bottom OF the locks
Near midnight the outer gate is closed
the fresh water from the canal fills
the locks TO the level OF the side
walls Then the ends Of the net are
pulled and as the Lerring are trapped
within the meshes the men fasten the
net 10 the single tree Of the canal
mule team and the thousands Of her.
ring are pulled ashore. Hundreds Of
people stay TO see the haul
ia tr he
Delaware City industry. while shad
nets now stretch from Marcus Hook
90 ship John Light Here there are
many men in the ehad business and
the success they are having is splen-
did When a boat canes IN with
from 80 to l40 fish selling at $4,000 a
hundred it can be seen the fishermen
are making money II is estimated
that between Claymont and Port Penn
there are al least 100 boats and over
twice as many men engaged IN the
fhad fishing business The nets and
boats are computed 70 be worth be-
tween $S5.00 and $1,000.
The men make big money for the
six OF seven weeks they are in the
business Port Penn and Delaware
City fishermen send their Ash 10
Philadelphia while the New Castle
fishermen ship their catch TO the COM
mission men in Fulton Street Market.
New York The New Castle men find
this year that the Interstate Com
merce interefers with their plans
The Adams Express Company, under
the law. would be obliged 10 charge
according TO the actual weight of the
FISH They can ship them for half the
cost by using the fast freiRhts Even
~ this way Il costs from nine to ff-
teen cents a FISH before the fishermen
get their returns
'Hlauu..a-a.--.--a--s-~------ ,...--> --r-s-
Delaware esheffnep 6s'Aeve that
next year will be a better year than
the present one because ietties are tc
he built on the New Jersey side oi
the river. The FISH of late years dc
not swim in the channel and wher
the ietties are built they must come
to the Delaware side
As soon as the shad season is ovei
many OF the Nshermen turn their a.
tention to sturgeon fishing Ander
son Brothers, Of this town, at one
time were the principal sturgeon
catchers with a fleet of a dozen boats
A good roe sturgeon nowadays nett
Its csptors from $50 20 Si20 p,
that as il may, in addition 10 the mer
IN the boats there are many other,
employed in the business and all win
ter bills have been paid and thu
greenbacks are finding their way int
the banks for this is the golden hsr
vest of the Delaware River hrsher
men.