ABSTRACT 



Production records for 1885, 1891-1908, and 1929-49, indicate cyclic 

 fluctuations for several important species of fish. The average annual 

 take (all species) of 3,582,000 pounds in 1929-19 was 3,503,000 pounds 

 below the 1891-1908 mean of 7,085,000 pounds. Decline in the output 

 of lake herring alone from 5,841,000 pounds in 1891-1908 to 1,070,000 

 pounds in 1929-49— a drop of 4,771,000 pounds— more than accounted 

 for the decrease. For species other than lake herring the combined 

 output increased from 1,244,000 pounds in 1891-1908 to 2,512,000 in 

 1929H19— a rise of 1,268,000 pounds. 



The 1929-49 fluctuations of abundance (as estimated from records of 

 catch per unit of effort) were considerable for all principal species. In 

 the late years of the period, lake trout were scarce as the result of sea- 

 lamprey depredations, but the abundance levels of whitefish, lake 

 herring, and walleyes were extremely high ; at the same time the smelt 

 was showing good recovery from the disastrous 1943 mortality. With 

 certain exceptions, correlations between fluctuations of fishing intensity 

 and the abundance of individual species were low, probably because 

 most operations are based on several species and hence not ordinarily 

 sensitive to changes in the abundance of a particular one. 



A combination of intensive fishing and high abundance of three prin- 

 cipal species carried the production to £>y 2 million pounds in 1947 and 

 the modern record high of between 7\' 2 and 8 million pounds in 1948 

 and 1949. With this prosperity has developed a most difficult situation 

 arising from friction between local commercial fishermen and new- 

 comers from other areas and from the activities of sport fishermen and 

 resort owners who believe that drastic restrictions on commercial fishing 

 will insure a perpetual high level of abundance of walleyes. 



Statistics for 1950 are given in a supplement. 



