Production by Indian and white 

 fishermen 



Table 4 gives the available data on the 

 annual total production (1927-1938) by Indian 

 and white fishermen, the value of their catches, 

 and the number of each kind of fishermen. All 

 of the white man's fish came from Upper Red 

 Lake outside of the reservation. The produc- 

 tion figures for the Indians and whites for the 

 years 1927 and 1928 correspond exactly with 

 those for the same years for Lower and Upper 

 Red Lakes respectively (table 3) . It is possible 

 that the other figures of catch of table 4 also 

 represent the yields of the two lakes, in which 

 case the production statistics of table 4 supple- 

 ment those of table 3 . 



During 1927-1934 Indians contributed 

 93 percent (not shown in table) to the total yield 

 and white fishermen 7 percent. After 1934 the 

 catch by whites was negligible and no licenses 

 were issued to them in 1938 . In the entire 

 period 1927-1938 Indians contributed 95 percent 

 and xhe white man 5 percent to the total catch, 

 virtually the same relative percentages holding 

 for the value of the product . 



Seasonal distribution of the catch 



Before 1930 catch statistics of the com- 

 mercial fisheries of the Red Lakes were not 

 recorded according to fishing season. In 1930, 

 however, the newly-organized Red Lake Fish- 

 eries Association instituted a card-file system 

 that provided for a daily record of the catch and 

 earnings of each fisherman. From those records 

 the seasonal catches for 1930-1938 have been 

 compiled (table 5) . 



The length of the fishing seasons is a 

 factor in the proportionate size of the total catch 

 of the summer and fall seasons. During 1930- 

 1933, the summer season began between July 7 

 and 10, but in 1934-1938 the season began about 

 2 weeks earlier, or between June 17 and 20. 

 The summer season terminated between August 1 

 and October 7, depending upon the total number 

 of fishermen, the abundance of fish, the number 

 of lifts necessary to obtain the seasonal quota of 

 650,000 pounds (not including rough fish), and 

 the frequency with which lifts could be made 



without creating unprofitable marketing con- 

 ditions through oversupply. Commercial fishing 

 during the fall season was conducted largely to 

 obtain whitefish eggs for artificial propagation. 

 During 1930-1938, the fall season commenced 

 between October 4 and 20 and ended between 

 November 3 and 14 . The final date of the fall 

 fishing was determined either by the collection 

 of an adequate supply of whitefish eggs, or by 

 the freezing of the lakes . 



The annual summer catch of all species 

 averaged 690, 171 pounds and the annual fall 

 catch averaged 198,768 pounds during 1930-1938. 

 The 9 -year summer average was 77, 6 percent 

 and the fall average was 22 . 4 percent . The 

 summer catches of individual years comprised 

 between 62 and 91 percent of the totals during 

 the 9 -year period. The greater summer catches 

 were largely the result of a greater fishing in- 

 tensity and a longer season. Only small-mesh 

 gill nets (3-1/2 inches, stretched measure) are 

 fished in the summer, whereas 5-1/2-inch mesh 

 nets are used in the fall. These large-mesh 

 nets do not take some of the smaller species 

 (as, for example, perch) . 



The bulk of the production of every im- 

 portant species except whitefish and northern 

 pike occurred in the summer season. The per- 

 centages of the average annual total production 

 of the six principal species taken in summer 

 were: walleyes, 80 percent; yellow perch, 91 

 percent; whitefish, 18 percent; northern pike, 

 49 percent; freshwater drum, 95 percent; and 

 goldeyes, 97 percent. Fluctuations in summer 

 percentages of individual years were relatively 

 small except in the whitefish whose percentages 

 varied from .4 in 1938 to 54 in 1936 . Despite 

 the fact that 80 percent of the walleyes were 

 captured in summer, this species dominated 

 both the summer and fall production (63 percent 

 of the summer total and 53 percent of the fall 

 total). Whitefish made up only 31 percent of the 

 fall production although 82 percent of the year's 

 take of whitefish were captured in that season. 

 In order of production the 6 principal species in 

 the summer were: walleyes, yeUow perch, gold- 

 eyes, freshwater drum, whitefish, and northern 

 pike. In the fall the order was: walleyes, white- 

 fish, yellow perch, northern pike, suckers, and 

 goldeyes. 



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