MILNER FISHERIES OF THE GRAAT LAKES. 19 



great iiiauy gangs of nets are lost in tlie lake every year by heavy 

 storms, and many in the late fall by being- left out until storms and ice 

 prevent their recovery. 



A species of fish of good size aud really fair flavor is destroyed in 

 large quantities in certain localities by the gill-nets, from the fact that 

 there is no demand for it in the general market. This is the so-called 

 " lawyer," the spotted burbot, Lota w««c«/osa, one of the family of Gadoids, 

 to which belong the cod, the haddock, aud the ling, all well received 

 in the market. The lawyer is rejected because of a prejudice against 

 its appearance. The peddlers in Chicago, and the proprietors of fish- 

 stands-'in Milwaukee, find no difficulty in selling it. The livers are very 

 large, and are occasionally obtained in quantity, and regarded as a rare 

 dish by experienced persons. 



(16 c.) Throwing offal on the fishing -grounds. — It is the uniform testi- 

 mony of all fishermen that throwing offal or dead fish in the vicinity of 

 the fishing-grounds is offensive to the white-fish, and drives him awa3\ 



The white-fish is peculiarly cleanly in its instincts, and has an aver- 

 sion for muddy or foul water of any description. Mostitshermen regard 

 their own interest sufficiently to be careful in this particular, while many 

 careless and shiftless men injure themselves and others by dumping 

 offal and dead fish anywhere in the lake where they find it convenient, 

 reducing the catch of fish in the vicinity for several months. Unsal- 

 able fishes are generaliy thrown overboard in the vicinity of the nets. 



(16 d.) PoJlntion of lal:e-ivater from sawdust. — The refuse from the saw- 

 mills, slabs, sidings, and sawdust, is thrown into thestreams in immense 

 quantities to float out and sink in the lake. It is having a very injurious 

 effect upon the fisheries. The water-logged slabs, tilted on the bottom, 

 and moved by currents, tear and carry away the nets. The sawdust 

 covers the feeding and spawning grounds of the fish, and is so obnox* 

 ions to them that in the vicinity of numerous mills, as at Muskegon, 

 Mich., the fisheries become greatly reduced in numbers and success. 



The observations of Alfred Blais, a fishery-overseer in the employ of 

 the Canadian marine and fisheries department, discovered the salmon- 

 ova, diseased and decaying, with particles of sawdust adhering. Its 

 contaminating effects extend far and wide from the vicinity of the mills, 

 as the contents of a dredge, from one hundred fathoms depth, in Grand 

 Traverse Ba^^, contained numerous blackened and decaying particles of 

 sawdust. 



The gradual deposit of water-logged sawdust, an inert substance, 

 in the water, with occasional slabs, forms nuclei for sand-bars in the 

 mouths of the rivers, and in some of them will contribute to an injury 

 to navigation, as it has to a considerable extent in the Menominee 

 Kiver of Wisconsin and Michigan. 



E— PEACTICABLE METHODS OF INCEEASE. 



It is a matter of great importance that means should be imuiediately 

 employed to arrest further decrease in the numbers of the lake-fishes, 



