FISHING INDUSTRY OF THE GEEAT LAKES 561 



not enumerated), yellow perch, yellow pike, pike, and carp. Spe- 

 cies of minor importance are sturgeon, eel, catfish, and chubs. The 

 relative importance of the species varies from census to census, 

 and the production of the Lakes is by no means equal, nor is the pro- 

 portion of the species the same for each lake. 



In the succeeding sections are given a historical resume and a state- 

 ment of present conditions for each of the Great Lakes. 



LAKE MICHIGAN 



DESCRIPTION 



Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes that lies wholly 

 within American jurisdiction. On the north and east its waters are 

 controlled by the State of Michigan, on the west by Wisconsin and 

 Illinois, and at the extreme south by Indiana. The lake is about 

 325 miles long, with an average width of 65 miles and an area of about 

 22,000 square miles. In the lake bottom are two basins — one at each 

 end — separated in the center by an uneven stretch about 60 miles 

 in length, which bears several well-defined though uncharted reefs. 

 From the south the bottom slopes very gradually (at the rate of 1 or 

 2 fathoms to a mile) into a basin with a maximum recorded depth of 

 97 fathoms. In this depression a somewhat circular area, about 40 

 miles in diameter, is inclosed by the 60-fathom contour. The rise 

 to the elevation in the center is rather abrupt and begins about 100 

 miles from the southern shore. The most extensive depression ex- 

 tends for about 100 miles in the northern half of the lake and is over- 

 laid by 90 to 144 fathoms of water. The 90-fathom contour roughly 

 outlines a triangle, with the apex pointing north. For about 50 

 miles the figure has an average width of 30 miles and then tapers 

 rapidly. So far as is known this area is virtually a desert. The rest 

 of the northern sector is dotted with islands and reefs, with con- 

 spicuous depressions between. Green Bay, with an approximate 

 area of 1,700 square miles and a maximum depth of about 20 fathoms, 

 and Grand Traverse Bay, with an area of about 300 square miles 

 and a maximum depth of more than 100 fathoms, are the only 

 extensive bays, and both lie near the north end. The bottom along 

 the shore is largely sand, but there are stretches of clay and, in the 

 north, of rock. The deeper waters overlie clay for the most part. 



FISHING INDUSTRY 



HISTORY 



The exact date when fishing operations began on Lake Michigan is 

 not known, but it was without doubt coincident with the founding of 

 settlements along its shores. On account of the proximity of good 

 markets the fisheries resources have been exploited to the limit from 

 the earliest times, and the lake has been exceeded only by Lake Erie 

 in productiveness and amount of capital invested. The industry was 

 originally prosecuted with seines and later with gill nets. Pounds 

 were not used much before 1860, and they have never been used very 

 extensively except in the bays and around the islands in the northern 

 sector of the lake. The principal fishing at first was for the whitefish, 

 but trout became increasingly important after 1880, and even before 

 1870 other species (principally herring in Green Bay) were significant 

 in the fisheries. The sturgeon was originally discarded, but by 1880 

 it had found a market and had risen to second place in abundance. 



