commercial effort or provide a major supple- 

 ment to any effort directed specifically at ale- 

 wife. Smelt and alewife were taken together in 

 70 percent of all drags in this study. The 

 catch records of smelt by cruise and year are 

 sunrmiarized in table 5. 



The monthly catch rates and availability of 

 smelt to bottom trawls by depth are shown in 

 figure 3. On the one cruise made in April, ice 

 cover prevented extensive explorations, and no 

 effort was made in 5 fathoms where smelt 

 likely would be spawning. During May and June, 

 catch rates were highest at 10 fathoms. In 

 May, some smelt were in 5 fathoms, and few 

 were found deeper than 15 fathoms. By June, 

 none was caught at 5 fathoms, and the catch 

 rate increased beyond 15 fathoms. From July 

 through November most of the smelt were 

 taken at 15- to ZO-fathom intervals; however, 

 a few were taken at all depths. On the Decem- 

 ber cruise, catch rates were good at all four 

 depth intervals. 



Suckers 



White suckers and longnose suckers were 

 taken in the trawl. Suckers could be an im- 

 portant supplement to a general fishing effort. 

 Three trawl drags took significant quantities 

 of suckers--the largest catch was 460 pounds. 

 The overall catch rate was 17 pounds, and the 

 average catch for effective effort was 47 pounds. 

 Suckers were the third most abundant species 

 in the total trawl catch and occurred in 36 per- 

 cent of the drags. Suckers were taken at depths 

 from 4 to 20 fathoms but were most abundant 

 at the 5-fathom interval- -only 3 pounds were 

 taken at 20 fathoms. 



Carp 



Carp was the fourth most abundant species 

 in total pounds landed in the trawl catch. Carp 

 occurred in 26 drags and composed 4.9 percent 

 of the total catch. Only five catches, however, 

 exceeded 100 pounds, and these accounted for 

 86 percent of the carp catch. All five of these 

 catches were made south of Peshtigo Point at 



depths from 5 to 15 fathoms. Three catches of 

 200, 600, and 1,300 pounds were commercially 

 significant. In northern Green Bay, carp oc- 

 curred in only one trawl drag, which caught 85 

 pounds of carp at 6 fathoms in Big Bay De Noc, 

 Carp were taken in 4 to 15 fathoms; however, 

 95 percent of the total poundage was caught in 

 less than 12 fathoms. Ninety-five percent of the 

 carp poundage was taken during cruises 21 and 

 22 (August and October 1964). 



Yellow Perch 



Fifty trawl drags had yellow perch, but the 

 average catch for effective effort was only 9 

 pounds. Only two catches were over 50 pounds 

 (55 and 70). Thus, it is unlikely that yellow 

 perch would be a major species for trawlers. 

 This fish would be only an incidental supple- 

 ment to other production efforts. 



Perch were taken at depths from 4 to 20 

 fathoms; most were caught at the 5-fathom 

 interval. The several large catches made at 

 11 and 12 fathoms in December and April in- 

 dicated a seasonal movement into deeper water 

 during the winter. 



Miscellaneous Species 



Three of the miscellaneous species, trout- 

 perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus ), spottail 

 shiner ( Notropis hudsonius ), and whitefish 

 composed 1.4 percent of the total landings and 

 are listed separately in the appendix tables. 

 The remaining 12 species--sculpins (Cottidae), 

 chubs (Leucichthys spp.), burbot ( Lota lota), 

 lake herring, yellow bullhead ( Ictalurus 

 natalis), creek chub ( Semotilus atronnaculatus ), 

 ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius ), 

 northern pike (Esox lucius ),~~fresh- water 

 sheepshead (Aplodinotus grunniens ), lake trout, 

 walleye, arid channel catfish ( Ictalurus 

 punctatus)--composed only 0.7 percent of the 

 total catch and are grouped together in the ap- 

 pendix tables. None of these miscellaneous 

 species now has potential commercial im- 

 portance to bottom trawling. 



X 



UJ 



Q 



-10 



15 



-20 



10- 



15- 



20 



APRIL MAY 



25 50 100 



I , I 1 



POUNDS 



JUNE JULY 



AUGUST OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER 



Figure 3.— Availability of smelt to bottom trawls In Green Bay by depth and month April - December. Figures 

 Illustrate the catch rate of smelt at 5-fathom depth Intervals. 



