Albemarle Sound

Albemarle Sound (/ˈælbəˌmɑːrl/) is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke.

The Albemarle Sound soon became an important thoroughfare: small trading ships called coasters carried cargo to and from other colonies, and larger merchant ships brought spices, silks, and sugars from the West Indies in exchange for products such as tobacco (a major export of the southern colonies), herring, and lumber.

In 1663, King Charles II of England designated Albemarle Sound as part of the Province of Carolina; it was assigned to eight Lords Proprietors.

Herring was cut and salted for export to Europe, while shad was packed in ice and shipped up the Chowan River to be sold in northern colonies.

[citation needed] But water pollution from industry, agriculture and other development in recent years has depleted the fisheries of the Albemarle Sound by seventy percent.