390 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Table 55. — Annual fluctuations in the abundance of whitefish in the various districts and areas of Lake 



Huron, 1940-194$ 



[Expressed as percentages of average 1929-1930 abundance. In the computation of percentages for areas of more than one district and for the entire 

 lake, the abundance percentage for each district was weighted according to the percentage of the total 1929 production contributed by that 

 district] 



1 Inadequate data. 



2 No production. 



9 of part II) brought about by a level of abundance (tables 55 and 56 — see tables 10 

 and 11 of part II) that made profitable operations impossible. 



Although the abundance percentages (table 551 and records of catch per unit effort 

 (table 56) can not be considered very reliable for the districts in which the production 

 reached extremely low figures, the data of table 55 nevertheless give some indication that 

 with respect to the entire lake the abundance, which began to decline in 1932, reached 

 its lowest level in 1940 (29 percent of the 1929-1939 average) and improved slightly in 

 1941 (31 percent) and 1942 (35 percent). 46 These small increases in the abundance 

 percentages can not be taken as the basis for optimism concerning a possible early 

 recovery of the whitefish fishery. On the contrary, it is to be considered most probable 

 that the abundance and production of whitefish will continue to be low for years to 

 come. The fishing intensity which was relatively low in all districts in 1940-1942 (table 

 53) and which had declined to 7.7 percent of average in 1942 for all districts combined 

 (table 54) can not be expected to increase materially until abundance has risen to a level 

 that permits profitable fishing. If a significant recovery occurs at all in the whitefish 

 fishery of Lake Huron it may be expected to be slow. It is conceivable, of course, 



Table 56. — Annual fluctuation in the catch of whitefish per unit of fishing effort of gill nets, deep trap nets, 

 and pound nets in the various districts of Lake Huron, 1940-1943 



« Tables 53, 54, 55, and 56 contain no figures for H-3 in 1940 and 1941 and for H-5 in 1942. In H-3 the small catches of whitefish in 1940 and 

 1941 were mostly reported by fishermen using a gear (shallow trap net) not considered in our estimations of abundance or by operators whose reports 

 did not contain information on the amount of gear lifted. No whitefish were produced in H-5 in 1942. 



