GEEAT LAKES: LAKE MICHIGAN. 649 



inerly extensively employed at Waukegau, but the lack of a harbor at that place made the fishing 

 very dangerous, ami it was abandoned. 



At Waukegan the fishermen are of different nationalities, Americans predominating. At 

 Kenosha they are Germans, and at Racine, Scandinavians. 



The value of the apparatus employed is large, as compared with the worth of the products 

 of the fisheries, which would seem to indicate a decline in the abundance of fish, or lessened 

 activity among the fishermen. The nets, boats, and accessory apparatus employed, according to 

 the estimates of the fishermen, are worth in all, about $19,000, while the products for the year 

 1879 brought the fishermen but about $13,500 gross. This is probably the smallest catch ever 

 known on this portion of the shore, by at least one-fourth. It is possible that the value given does 

 not represent the value of the entire catch, as a considerable portion of the products are sold out 

 of the boats as soon as the latter come in, and of this amount nothing more than an insufficient 

 estimate could be obtained. 



The catch consists of whitefish, trout, sturgeon, and pike, and several of the minor varieties. 

 At Kenosha, few of any kinds except whitefish and trout are taken, and at Eacine these two, 

 with the addition of sturgeon, make up the whole amount. On account of the proximity of the 

 towns to Chicago, much of the fish is sent to that city fresh in ice. About one-half the yield of 

 the Waukegan and Eacine fisheries, however, is consumed in the neighboring inland villages. At 

 Waukegau considerable quantities of small whitefish are smoked, and during 1879, about 225 half- 

 barrels of that fish were salted. The sturgeon taken, about 30,000 pounds in 1879, are sent to 

 Chicago to be smoked. 



There are several facts connected with the history of the fisheries of this section which it may 

 be well to have recorded. Several disasters have occurred within the last decade. In 1S75 two 

 boats, in which were eight fishermen of Keuosha, were lost during a northwest gale. The accident 

 seriously disheartened those remaining, and many ceased fishing entirely. The only other dis- 

 aster, of -which information could be obtained, occurred at Eacine, where, in 1876, one fisherman 

 was drowned. 



Changes have taken place in the apparatus used and the manner of fishing, as well as in the 

 extent of the industry. In 1SC8 the Kenosha fisheries supported eight bnats, and the occupation 

 was considered profitable, but now, according to the fishermen's phraseology and belief, it is 

 "played out." The cause is attributed to too exhaustive fishing and the influence of the pound-m ts 

 established south of the city. Small-mesh gill-nets were formerly employed for the capture of 

 ciscoes, but the custom has been almost entirely abandoned. Mr. Bergerhageu, a gentleman resi- 

 dent at Kenosha, and conversant with the condition of the fisheries, is of the opinion that not one- 

 fourth as many fish frequent this shore as formerly, and denounces the use of pound-nets in 

 strongest terms. 



At Waukegau pound-nets have been in use for twelve years, previous to which time gill-nets 

 and seines were employed. Mr. D. D. Parmlee, a well informed man, residing here in 1879, stated 

 that during the last four or five years the fishermen had not made a living by their occupation. 

 He thought an increase was apparent at that time, however, and considered that the fishermen 

 had no reason for alarm, as the same fluctuation had occurred in other years. 



The only change in the apparatus used at Racine, is the substitution of nets with fine thread 

 for those with coarser thread. 



CHICAGO AND SOUTH CHICAGO. Although Chicago is beyond all question the most impor- 

 tant receiving and distributing point on the lakes, the fisheries carried on there are comparatively 

 insignificant. They are more extensive now, however, than formerly, when the river, polluted with 



