Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-03-20
SHAO FISHING
IN THE DELAWARE
UNDER HANO|CAPS
Pollution of the Water is Proving
Detrimental to the Success OF
the Industry.
THOUGH FISH ARE
PROTECTED BY LAW

the coming season. BOATS are bcihR oNoi
hauled, old nets are beng repaired ana
new ones arc being hung IN by the hsher-
men. so that by the middle oil April thS
followers of the industry Will be prepared
for busy season
There will be many new features IN
shad fishing this year as compared with
former seasons. First of all, due TO the
continued cold weather, the indications
arc that the season will open much later
than us,lal. the season usually beginning
shortly after the first of April. Secondly
there will be fewer fishermen who Will en-
cage in the industry as compared 10
FORMER SEASONS. Taking the Jersey hshmg
cen,ers and the Delaware centeIs, New
Castle. Port Penn, Due k Creek and Della
ware t,itv collectively, there Will he out
one-third as many fishermen as there were
In 1914.
There are several reasons for the small
number Of fishermen who VIII pursue tne
industry this year. Those VINO ioiioW tne
industry this wear may be termed mde,
nendenf" fishermen. who are not stopped
hv the almost prohibitive price oi the
sbad fishing equipment With nets costing
nearly So pound as compared with
81 10 several wears ago, an outht, COM
nlets. with cork and lead lines, tins year
viii cost over $500 The cost OF operating
the launches used will be greater than ever
due to the increased cost of supplies used
making the whole equipment worth a''ou'
$1,000
In former wears some of the fishermen
wore subsidized by buyers who handled
the catch Of the boats operating the nets
button account OF the extreme high prlcts
of an outfit. this practice Is not expected 10
prevail this year and this Will ol course
result in a number who usually hsh not
feinr on the river during the coming
season.
Pollution of the water from various
plapts along the river and the nnge rel us''
emntied from tankers passing up, Is also
Manned The oilv substance that floats on
tLe river damages the nets and boats 10
s,ch an extent that several days IN the
middle of the fishing season has been lost
in mast seasons, Just at a time, Whcn 'fle
fishermen were making good catcnes'
This. Of course is heavy foSs. As there
has been no change for the better IN the
matter Of pollution. some oi the men are 50
discouraged that they will not follow the
vocation.
During the height oi the season, Della
ware CITY is the center OF the shad m
dustry. This wear there pill be about eight
boats from there, like number from Ne"
Castle. about nine from Port Penn, and q
small number from Duck Creek. lhis ls
about one-third of the fleet OF former
seasons
The herring season opens about the
same time as the shad season Delaware
Citv il the greatest center OF herring
fishing an the river. The fresh water OF
he Cbesapeakc and Delaware Canal AT
the locks attracts the fish in large schools
In former wears single haul IN the locks
netted as many as 65, 600 herring They
have fallen of in number now Last year
ratch of about 5000 in q single haul was
the season. record. \ number OF glll
net fishermen follow the industry AT the
entrance to the locks.
Following the shad and herring season,
the sturgeon industry Is the next taken up
Larger catches than IN many years are
predicted. despite the fact that the catch
mas been very small for the past eight or
ten years.
Csrp and trout fishing mark the close
of the season. Carp keep number OF men
going until time for the shad season ia
0pen. This winter some carp hshermcn
have made as much AS S3UOu Tor the
season.
FISH PROTECTED BY lA@
One peculiar feature Of the pollution
uroblem Is that although there appear tc
be laws in the States OF Pcnnsylvanla
New Jersey and Delaware. prohibiting the
pollution Of the river. the practice mas not
been stopped although the attention oi
The authorities in the three States has been
called 20 the matter
4 communication from the Bureau oi
Fisheries Of the Department OF Com
nerce Washington, D. C. states that
there Is no Federal law governing the
nolIurion of streams except insofar AZ
navigation NAV be obstructed or I'M
NEEDED The laws of the States OF Pcnnsyl-
yauia New Jersey and Delaware do, how
ever. specifically declare II shall be unlaw'
ful 10 place in the waters OF the state:
mentioned. any poisonous or explosive
substance injurious TO fish or FISH food. IL
the PENNSYLVANIA law, prosecution Ii
made very easy, as the law IN part de
claress In case OF the pollution OF Wateri
nv substances known TO be injurious K
fishes or to fish food, it shall not be neces
sarv to prove that such substances have
actually caused the death OF any partlcuLal
fish
The Delaware Law provides II shall b.
unlawful for any person wlfuliy T
put or place in the waters aforesaid
refuse from gas houses, OIL tanks or vessels
OF dUE Otnel ueletFfIOuo. tit>ti uC1IfS "
poisonous substance TO be turned into O
allowed TO run into any Of the water
aforesaid. In quantities sufficient u
DESTROY or impair fish life or disturb th,
habits Of the fish inhabitIng the same
To the fishermen, it is felt that the Law
i thorough enough to cover the trouble
but the practice has continued Tor the pas
two or three wears. 50 that now the very
existence of the fishing industry Is threat
ened by the pollution Of the Delaware
Fishermen feel that sufficient legisla
ton exists already for the protection o
the industry. and as the legislation Is of ;
constructive type. they feel no more legs
lation is needed, but do think existin;
laws should be enforced. In recent year
there have been several laws passed for th'
benefit Of the industry. The Delaware Law
quoted above is from the 1917 session.
The Pilots Association has been com
municated with IN an effort TO have tn
members use their influence for the dis
continuance Of the practice Of oil tanker
emptyIng bilge refuse into the river bu
no reply has been received from them.
The fishermen do not think the Drac
tice is continued purposely. but that tn
tanker owners do not realize the serious
ness of the condition that confronts Della
ware river fishermen, through their failing
10 stop the practice.
1t is planned by group of Delawar
fishermen to take the matter up with tn
attorney generals Office, as it is believes
that with little trouble the practice Of th