156 Conservation Department 



A small seine, usually 20 feet or less in length, is employed. 

 At other times, when none can be taken near shore, they are 

 attracted by the light of a gasoline lantern and are secured with 

 a dip net. The log-perch, Percina caprodes zehra is a popular bait 

 for black bass along the lake shore, where it goes by the name of 

 "modoch". Among other fish used as bait are stone-roller 

 minnows, black-nosed dace, the common shiner and the horned 

 dace. Small suckers are not minnows and it is illegal to use them. 

 These are seined from creeks, usually, but apparently not in great 

 enough numbers to seriously interfere with the production of this 

 type of food. Soft-shell crayfish are more sought after in the 

 creeks and the weed beds of the Niagara river than the small fish 

 are, as the soft-shell ' ' crab ' ' is the most preferred bass bait. 



The Problem of Conserving Lake Erie Resources. — As Lake 

 Erie waters lie within the jurisdiction of the states of New York, 

 Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan and the Province of Ontario, 

 the problem of conserving the supply of commercial and angling 

 fish is an interstate and international one. Effective solution 

 of this problem requires cooperation between all parties concerned. 

 Cooperation by various interested organizations in a program of 

 fishery research is now being accomplished.* The U. S. Bureau 

 of Fisheries is making a study of apparatus with a view to making 

 recommendations as to the sizes of mesh which are most efficient 

 and at the same time least destructive to under-sized fish. Life 

 history investigations are in progress as a part of the work of the 

 Bureaus of Fisheries of both the United States and Ontario. The 

 more that is learned of the fish themselves, the more intelligently 

 can the proper conservation measures be devised. When the gov- 

 ernments of the several states concerned, and of Ontario can come 

 to agreement regarding the wisest restrictions as to type of gear, 

 fishing seasons, minimum size limits, and other conservation meas- 

 ures, much will have been accomplished toward the insuring of 

 continued yields to the fisheries as well as to anglers. 



Natural Production in Lake Erie. — At present the replacement 

 of the majority of the commercial fish taken is entirely by natural 

 reproduction. This is supplemented by artificial stocking in the 

 case of the herring and wliitefish. 



In regard to the New York area of the lake, considerable in- 

 formation bearing on the problem of natural production was col- 

 lected during the survey. As judged by the distribution of the 

 young fish, certain areas of this territory are important spawning 

 and rearing grounds, while others are not. Along stretches of 

 rocky cliffs, and along extensive stretches of the beach that are 

 exposed to full force of wave action, comparativel}^ few young fish 

 were taken. On the other hand, in slieltered bays, in lagoons at the 



* Hinging, Elmer. Cooperative Fishery Investigations in Lake Erie. Scientific 

 Monthly, Oct. 1928. 



