252 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION, 



CHAIVOES IN TUB FISHKRIE.^ OF THE CARFAX LAKES DURIXO THE 



DECADE, lSrO-lS80. 



By CHAS. M\ SMILEY. 



A somewhat wide-spread impression exists in tlie lake region that 

 the fisheries of the Great Lakes are decreasing. That the number of 

 pounds of fish annually caught is less than formerly is not true, and 

 yet this instinctive impression is doubtless correct if formulated differ- 

 ently. That the resources are diminishing and liable to fail us is true. 



From the statements of Mr. J. W. Milner, who visited the fisheries in 

 1871, and whose report was published by the United States Fish Com- 

 mission, and by comparison with the investigation made in 1879 by 

 Mr. Ludwig Kumlein under the auspices of the Fish Commission and 

 Tenth Census, the following facts appear: 



I. The total number of pounds of fish obtained from the Great Lakes 

 in 1879 was equal to or greater than the yield of any years in the first 

 part of the decade. 



II. The apparatus for capture has increased in effectiveness enor- 

 mously, probably 500 per cent. The increased effectiveness was produced 

 by the introduction of finer meshes in nets, the addition of steam-tugs, 

 the increase of i)ounds, and very great increase in the number of gill-nets 

 in use. The number of fishermen also increased. 



III. The average size of the whitefish and trout taken greatly dimin- 

 ished during the decade. 



IV. A considerable number of valuable fishing places became seriously 

 or wholly exhausted. ISTew places were sought out and the supply thus 

 kept up. 



Y. From these few facts the following conclusion is drawn: The per- 

 fection which the apparatus has attained, the diminution in the size 

 of the fish taken, the exhaustion of numerous localities, and the fact that 

 fishing is pressed under these circumstances enough to keep up the 

 maximum supply, indicate that, in the natural order of events, remark- 

 able diminution if not complete coUapse is to be anticipated in the 

 coming decade. 



VI. The natural order of events may be averted by regulation of the 

 size of meshes, preventing the pollution of the waters, and by artificial 

 propagation. 



In support of the foregoing statements the following details are sub- 

 mitted : 



I. The supply maintained. — In his report for 1872 Mr. Milner gave a 

 table of "the number of pounds of lake fish received by first handlers," 

 but he stated that his figures for Sandusky, Milwaukee, Green Bay, and 

 Mackinaw were incomplete. He then adds: "The sum total of this 

 incomplete record is 32,250,000 pounds of fish." Mr. Kumlein's figures 



