50 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
sition of the Missisquoi Bay population was disturbed by the early 
fall seining of 1930. The size and age distribution of the southern 
Lake Champlain fish indicated that no disturbance through exploita- 
tion had taken place. The two populations were more or less dis- 
tinct also as to growth rate, the length-weight relationship, and the 
location of spawning grounds. Autumn is apparently a season of 
reduced feeding activity, for 86 percent of the 141 stomachs examined 
were empty. The food consisted almost exclusively of invertebrates 
(99.1 percent) which were made up principally of mollusks (92.8 
percent). 
Lake Erie yellow perch—Mr. Jobes has completed the preliminary 
draft of a manuscript on the growth of the Lake Erie perch. Much 
of the information obtained in this study has been presented in 
past reports. The most important new development was the deter- 
mination of a method for the calculation of growth from scale meas- 
urements. Lengths at the end of the second and later years can be 
computed by direct proportion, that is, on the assumption that the 
body-scale ratio is constant. First-year lengths, however, must be 
determined from an empirical curve of the body- scale relationship. 
SPECIAL SURVEYS 
Red Lakes and the International Lakes.—At the request of the 
Office of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior, Drs. Van 
Oosten and H. J. Deason conducted a 3-week survey of the fisheries 
of Upper and Lower Red Lakes in northern Minnesota during late 
August and early September 1938. The principal purpose of the 
investigation was to obtain information for the settlement of various 
controversies concerning the regulation of the commercial gill-net 
fishery that is conducted by the ‘Indians on Lower Red Lake and by 
white citizens on Upper Red Lake. The survey included the quanti- 
tative analysis of commercial catches as to species and size composi- 
tion, a study of the variations in the size of gill-net mesh employed, 
and the collection of biological data for the study of the life histories 
of the principal species. All available statistical records of the 
commercial fishery and of the artificial propagation of wall-eyed pike 
and whitefish were transcribed for later analysis. Conservation and 
Indian Agency officials, fishermen, and other interested persons were 
interviewed. 
A large portion of the work preparatory to the submission of a 
formal report has been completed. The report will contain recom- 
mendations, largely for the guidance of officials of the Red Lake 
Indian Agency, for the regulation of the commercial fisheries which 
constitute one of the principal sources of income for the Indians. 
Following the Red Lakes survey Dr. Van Oosten made a brief 
survey of the boundary waters of northern Minnesota and south- 
western Ontario, at which time he interviewed fishermen, transcribed 
statistical records, and collected biological data on the principal 
commercial species. 
Potagannissing Bay investigation —The investigation of the rela- 
tionship between the sport and commercial fisheries of Potagannis- 
sing Bay, Lake Huron, conducted under the joint supervision “of Dr. 
Van Oosten and F. A. Westerman of the Michigan Department of 
Conservation, has been concluded and a formal report has been pre- 
