154 Conservation Department 



in production and that, unlike others of the Great Lakes, the bulk 

 of the production is of ''rou^fh fish", species other than the white- 

 fish and herring. This may not hold for New York State in 

 normal years. 



The important commercial species which are taken in the gill 

 net fishery within New York boundaries are herring, blue pike, 

 l^erch, yellow pike, suckers, whitefish, saugers and trout. Less 

 important in gill net catches are ling, white bass, red-fin suckers, 

 rock bass and occasional other species. Carp, suckers, red-fin 

 suckers, catfish (2 species), buffalo mullet, white bass, sheepshead, 

 bullheads and others are taken with seines, principally in spring 

 and early summer. Set lines are the most important means of tak- 

 ing catfish and a few sturgeon are so captured. The fish traps of the 

 lower Niagara river are reported to capture a few sturgeon, as 

 well as perch and blue pike. Since the gill net fishery is carried 

 on, with some interruptions all summer, there was some oppor- 

 tunity to gather data on catches made by this apparatus. 



As pointed out by Koeltz,* the most valuable production of 

 Lake Erie is that of "rough fish". This author further brings out 

 that a high production has been maintained only by means of 

 utilizing additional species and utilizing more equipment than was 

 formerly used. As the numbers of certain of the more highly 

 prized species, such as whitefish, become reduced, it has been found 

 profitable to turn to the less highly prized but more plentiful ones, 

 as the sucker. Consequently, at the present time there is danger 

 of depletion not only of the supply of the first class fish, but also 

 of these others which have grown more valuable. Production 

 should be carefully watched, and when it is apparent that the 

 supply of any species is becoming less, steps toward conserving 

 that supply should be taken. At present, only 4 of the 22 species 

 of commercial fish receive any protection! within the New York 

 State part of Lake Erie : The whitefish and sturgeon are pro- 

 tected by size limit ; the yellow pike by size limit and closed 

 season; and the lake trout by size limit only. Of the commercial 

 group, only 4 species, the whitefish, herring, yellow pike (pike- 

 perch) and yellow perch are propagated within the state. 



Angling. — The number of persons engaged in fishing as sport 

 is very large in the Erie-Niagara watershed. This is a thickly 

 populated area, with good roads and it is not surprising that prac- 

 tically every body of water that contains any game fish receives 

 much attention from hook and line fishermen. The numbers of 

 the trout, bass, and other choice game fish are kept rather low in 

 most waters. When the fishing for these fish is poor, anglers turn 

 to the less (\steem('d, but nevertheless desirable species such as the 

 |)ickerel (northern pike), the i)ereh and the rock bass, just as in 

 the commcreial fishery it has been necessary to turn toward the 

 rough fish to kcc]) production high. There is practically no species 



* Loc. cit. 



t See N. Y. State Conservation Law for 1928. 



