78 NORTHERN FISHES 



larvae, an occasional minnow, and algae and other vegetable matter. 

 The stomachs of 10 out of a total of 27 adults examined during June 

 contained httle but pebbles and sand. Mr. B. Arnesen of Lake of the 

 Woods, who repeatedly kept sturgeon in confinement for long periods, 

 found they apparently thrived on such grains as wheat and barley. 



They were remarkably abundant at one time in Lake of the Woods, 

 so much so that they were considered a nuisance by the pound-net fisher- 

 men, and many thousands were recklessly destroyed before a demand 

 for their flesh was created. Some idea of the rapidity with which they 

 were disappearing in this particular lake can be formed by the figures 

 given by Evermann and Latimer (1910) , who state: "In 1893 the catch 

 in American waters amounted to 1,300,000 pounds. . . . By 1903 the 

 sturgeon catch had dwindled to 45,239 pounds. . . . According to local 

 fishermen there has been a slight increase in the number of sturgeon 

 within the last few years." During the first nineteen days of September 

 1911 the catch of sturgeon at Curry's Fishery at the mouth of Rainy 

 River was only 20 adult fish, that is, fish exceeding 15 pounds net weight. 

 The number of undersized fish taken during the same period was 808; 

 during the latter half of ^Nlay 1912 the same fishery obtained 15 adults 

 and 65 undersized fish. One 6-foot fish, a female procured by Curry in 

 1911, produced about 30 pounds of caviar, and the value of the fish and 

 caviar netted the fisherman $54.80. 



In this connection it is interesting to note the enormous increase in 

 the price of caviar realized by the fishermen of Lake of the Woods. Dur- 

 ing the period 1888-91 sturgeon eggs sold at 10 cents a pound, in 

 1892-94 at 20 cents, in 1897 at 60 cents, in 1900 at 80 cents, and in 1909, 

 at the peak, at $1.50 a pound. On the other hand, sounds, the swim 

 bladder, used for the production of isinglass, maintained a steady price 

 of $1.00 a pound from 1888 to 1902, in which year it dropped to 75 cents, 

 and by the close of 1904 it had dropped to 50 cents, where it remained. 

 Apparently the increasing use of various forms of celluloid and other 

 substitutes was responsible for the drop in price. 



Clearly some effort should be made to perpetuate the species. Yet it 

 appears that it can be accomphshed only by setting aside some lake 

 where rock sturgeon now exist in numbers, if such a lake can be found, 

 and drawing from this lake from time to time such numbers as may be 

 needed to replenish other waters. The artificial propagation of rock 

 sturgeon so far has been a decided failure, owing to inability to procure 

 ripe fishes. The lake sturgeon grows very slowly, requiring 15 to 22 

 years to reach maturity (Borodin, 1925) . 



The artificial propagation of the lake, or rock, sturgeon has been the 

 dream of fish culturists for upwards of 50 years. Efforts to procure ripe 

 fishes have been made by successive generations, the results being the 

 same in all but one or two instances. In 1911 Surber, who was then 

 senior scientific assistant at the Fairport, Iowa, Biological Station, spent 



