Show CATCHING KING CRABS A OB the that lat threw donth down along the shobei of delahan bay on both the lew jersey and da rides there is a thriving industry which is seldom heard of and still mon seldom seen in operation or if it if men few atop to inquire into it the industry in question is the king crab fishery and ona year ol 01 the hard shelled fellows were taken from their native element while in aoma years the yield has relished the season only lasts three month and sometimes less the story afi told by hogam smith of the united states fish commission the fishery for king crabs while not primarily intended to provide a food product indirectly to that result furnishing one of the best fertilizers known this variety of crab al though having no value aa an article ol 01 food famishes the basis for an industry of no little consequence to the community for while banners in most of the seaboard states utilize small numbers ot the crabs for purposes of fertilization it is only in delaware bay that it can be aard to be a well defined industry and it Is only here that special forms of apparatus bare been employed in capturing the festive king A trip down the bay and an inspection of the fisheries proves the industry to b in a flourishing condition the fishing seems to center on the jersey side between capo may point and beisle ville twenty miles abiva about aeden eighth of the entire catch is made between Donnis ville and fishing creek at the intervening settlements of goshen diba creek and green creek the catch in round numbers has been and crabs respectively two forma of apparatus are in common use along the jersey shore one resembles a type of pound net but the other la entirely unlike anything else used in the waters ox the united states and is designed for and especially adapted to this fishery the stakes which form the framework for the pounds are 8 feet to 10 feet long and 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter they are located 4 feet to 6 feet apart to the bottom of the stakes constituting tho hedge boards one inch thick are nailed to the height of a toot or mor the bottom of the bowl and the sides the height of 1 foot to 2 feet are torn in the same way the door to the fir bowl is from 18 inches to 24 inches wida on each side of the leader the entrance to the second bowl is narrower and only a few crabs pass through it the netting consists of either wire or twine the weir or stake net as it is here called is very different from the net although both have some parts in common it consists of poles or stakes driven into the maddy or sandy bottoms BO as to form a leader or hedge wings and a bowl or the poles constituting sti the bowl are 8 feet to 10 feet long and 2 inches to 4 inches in diameter at their larger ends and 1 inch to it inches in diameter at their smaller extremities es for the wings and leader polea from 8 feet to 6 feet long are employed the poles are placed from li inches to 3 inches apart to permit the sea to wash through the bowl is somewhat aemi circular in shape the extremities of the joining the wings about midway their length its capacity is encroached upon by the leader and the door or entrance to the pound which is the moat important feature of the apparatus it of a wedge shaped platform of board batting fatting into the space between tho aa they approach tho leader the platform la inclined at a gentle angle and is about five feet long projecting about one foot over a support it is important that the pitch of the platform shall not be too great and that the floor shall not be too smooth otherwise the crabs cannot or will not walh upon it the floor of the bowl is made of cheap boards to prevent the crabs scratching holes in the mud and loosening the poles philadelphia record |