Although the conclusions based on aver- 

 ages provide a valid comparison of summer and 

 fall fisheries, the presence of certain exceptions 

 to the general statements should be noted. Al- 

 though whitefish were produced chiefly in the 

 fall, the summer catches equalled or exceeded 

 the fall production in 1933, 1935, and 1936. 

 The fall production of whitefish was small, how- 

 ever, in each of these years . On the other hand, 

 relatively high percentages of the total catch of 

 walleyes were taken in the fall in 1931 and 1932 

 (30 percent and 34 percent, respectively). In 

 no other years did the percentage of walleyes 

 produced in the fall exceed 19. The causes for 

 these exceptions to the general trend are un- 

 known. Weather conditions --especially time of 

 formation of ice --doubtless had an important 

 effect on the fall production. 



caused, at least in part, by the initiation of W. 

 P. A. projects employing Indian labor, by the 

 gradual elimination of the white fishermen 

 (table 4), and by periodic free distribution of 

 large qujmtities of staple foods at the Red Lake 

 Agency . 



Table 4 shows the number of Indian and 

 white fishermen who operated during 1927-1938. 

 The data indicate that the Indians always far out- 

 numbered the white fishermen, comprising on 

 the average, 96 percent of the total. An aver- 

 age of 205 Indians and 9 whites were engaged in 

 commercial fishing, the number of Indians 

 fluctuating between 165 and 262 and the number 

 of white men varying from to 18 . 



Fishing effort 



Fishermen 



The numbers of fishermen who operated 

 gill nets on Lower and Upper Red Lalces during 

 the summer and fall seasons of 1930-1938 and 

 the total number participating in the fishery each 

 year (fishing in the summer only, in the fall 

 only, or in both seasons) are recorded in table 6. 

 Total numbers are also given for 1927-1929, in 

 table 4. The number of summer fishermen 

 averaged 200 for the 9 -year period. There 

 were fewer summer fishermen during 1933-1937 

 (also 1927 and 1928), than during 1930-1932 

 (probably also 1929), or in 1938. The 1933-1937 

 annual average of 176 summer fishermen was 

 25 percent less than the average of 235 for 1930- 

 1932 and was 16 percent below 1938. 



Fall fishermen for 1930 to 1938, inclu- 

 sive, averaged 174 or 13 percent less than the 

 summer fishermen during the same years. How- 

 ever, in 1930-1932 there was an annual average 

 of 245 fall fishermen, and in 1933-1938 the av- 

 erage was 139, or 43 percent less than during 

 the preceding 3 years. 



Each Indian fisherman on the Red Lakes 

 up to 1938 could set and lift not to exceed 5 nets, 

 each 300 feet long, or a total of 1,500 linear feet 

 of netting each day, as prescribed by the regula- 

 tions made by the Commissioner of Indian Af- 

 fairs. Nets usually were set during the late 

 afternoon or evening and lifted the following 

 morning so that the fishing time for each lift 

 was one night out. Nets sometimes remained 

 in the water for a longer time during a severe 

 storm. Weather conditions sufficiently adverse 

 to prevent the lifting of nets during the summer 

 season were usually of infrequent occurrence . 



The total lifts made by all fishermen 

 during the summer and fall seasons, and during 

 both seasons, from 1930 to 1938, appear in 

 table 6. During the 9 years an average of 5,927 

 lifts of presumably 1,500 feet of small-mesh 

 gill nets was made during the summer season, 

 equivalent to 77 percent of the total number of 

 lifts made during both seasons. In tfte fall the 

 annual average of 1,742 lifts of presumably 

 1,500 feet of nets constituted 23 percent of the 

 average number of lifts for the entire year . 



Individuals participating in the fishery at 

 some time during the year varied from 286 in 

 1930to 168 in 1936 and averaged 223. The 1933- 

 1938 average of 197 fishermen was 28 percent 

 below the 1930-1932 average of 275 fishermen. 

 The pronounced decrease in the total number of 

 fishermen in 1933 and subsequent years was 



The relative quantities of large-mesh 

 and small-mesh nets used during the fall are 

 unknown. Fishermen ordinarily employed small- 

 mesh nets early in the fall until whitefish appear, 

 whereupon large -mesh nets were substituted 

 for many of the small -mesh. Some fishermen, 

 sometimes with the approval of the manager of 



19 



