FOREWORD 



Any detailed account of the reasons for a 30 -year delay in the publication 

 of this report would be of questionable value. Suffice it to say that present 

 research on Lake Erie, being conducted by Ontario, several state agencies, 

 the Federal Government of Canada, and the U. S. Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries, has demonstrated the value of the manuscripts included in this re- 

 port. Comparisons between the observations of then and now have provided 

 evidence of progressive eutrophication in Lake Erie. The manuscripts on 

 microplankton and macroplankton are the most comprehensive that have ap- 

 peared to date on plankton of the Great Lakes. Furthermore, the careful and 

 detailed work of the 1928-29 surveys of the central and eastern basins of Lake 

 Erie, plus the 1928-30 surveys of the western basin (Wright 1955), provide an 

 invaluable basis for future limnological studies of the lake. 



This report was edited by staff members of the Great Lakes Biological 

 Laboratory, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries; many deteriorated figures were 

 redrawn. In view of the obvious difficulties presented by the great time lag 

 between preparation and publication, and since most of the authors could not 

 be contacted, normal editorial criteria could not be followed. This enterprise 

 was greatly advanced by the advice and assistance of Dr. Fish. 



Alfred M. Beeton 



IV 



