MILNER FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES. 65 



23. — THE LAKE-HEREINa. 



The so-called lake-herrings, Argyrosomus chqjeiformis, (Mitch.,) and A. 

 harengus (Rich.,) are very numerous in the shoaler waters of the lakes. 



In the shoal regions of Green Bay and Lake Erie they are found in 

 vast schools, crowding into the pound-nets in masses until the " cribs " 

 are filled to the surface of the water. In Lake Erie frequently a corner 

 of the net is lowered and a large proportion of them allowed to escape 

 before the remainder are thrown into the boat. Although they have 

 been taken in this way for years, there is no apparent diminution in 

 their numbers. Perhaps the little disposition on the part of the fishermen 

 to catch them in some measure accounts for this fact, though there must 

 be, as well, some natural advantages in their prolificity and in the tenac- 

 ity of life of the ^gg. They are little sought after because they are not 

 a favorite fish in the market, being rather deficient in qualities as a 

 fresh or salt fish, though having no objectionable liavor. They are small 

 and thin when opened, and become shrunken when pickled. A mode of 

 curing them, lately adopted at Waukegan, III., and Sandusky, Ohio, 

 makes them the most delicious food. It is merely a slight pickling in salt 

 brine, and then exposing them to the smoke of a hot fire for a short 

 time. By this process they are prepared for eating without any further 

 cooking, and are very much superior to the ordinary smoked herrings. 

 They will keep two or three weeks in hot weather when but slightly 

 smoked The profit on them to the fishermen is less than any other fish 

 handled from the lakes, because of the low j)rice they command in the 

 market, and the expense of dressing and packing is much greater than 

 in white-fish, trout, or pike, because of their smaller size. 



The greatest length attained in an overgrown specimen seen at Point 

 Edward, on the Canadian side of the head of Saint Clair River, was about 

 nineteen inches in length, and it weighed about two pounds. The aver- 

 age length is scarcely one foot and the weight about nine or ten ounces. 



Ditfering from the white-fish in the construction of the mouth, it 

 being terminal, they more readily take a bait, and may be fished for 

 with hook and line with a suitable bait. Insects are the best for this 

 purpose, though they are frequently taken with a minnow. The con- 

 tents of the stomach have been obtained in but a few instances, the 

 fish being taken almost exclusively in the pound-nets, and in these 

 they have generally remained long enough to digest the stomach-con- 

 tents. A few specimens from seines 'in the Detroit River were found to 

 contain insects and a few of the Gammaridce, but no remains of vertebrates, 

 though the herring are frequently taken with a minnow bait. They 

 were found, by examination of the stomachs during the spawning- 

 season of the white-fish, to be spawn-eaters of the worst character, 

 their stomachs being crammed with white-fish ova, and, considering 

 the great numbers of the herring, and their vicinity to the spawning- 

 grounds, the destruction they efi:'ect must be very great. 

 S. Mis. 74 5 



