578 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Separated from thejmain body of the lake and wholly within 

 Canadian territory are the divisions known as the North Channel and 

 Georgian Bay. Their water surfaces are approximately 1,500 and 

 5,000 square miles. From the junction of tiie North Cfhannel with 

 the St. Marys River to the foot of Georgian Bay at Collingwoodjs 

 a distance of about 240 miles, while the greatest width of the district, 

 from the mouth of the French River to the junction of Georgian Bay 

 with Lake Huron, is about 60 milqs. The North Channel and the 

 northern and eastern shores of the bay are dotted with numerous 

 islands and reefs, and the best fishing grounds are in these sections. 

 The water in the North Channel dee-pens from north to south, with 

 the maximum depth of 29 fathoms ofi the Manitoulin Island, which 

 forms its southern shore. The average depth is about 20 fathoms. 

 The floor of Georgian Bay is also tilted, but from east to west, so that 

 the deepest waters lie hard off the Bruce Peninsula. From the east 

 the slope is gradual and the 40-fathom contour approximately bisects 

 the bay from north to south. The descent into depths of 60 to 90 

 fathoms is rapid. The shores are for the most part rocky, but 

 stretches of sand, gravel, and clay are not uncommon.^In the deep 

 water the bottom is clay. 



FISHING INDUSTRY 



HISTORY 



The fishing industry was established on Lake Huron later than on 

 Michigan or the lower lakes. Seines and pound nets were not used 

 as extensively from the beginning as on the lower lakes, and until 1880 

 it appears that gill nets were the main apparatus employed. 



Gill netting was begun in Lake Huron, around Alpena, about 1835, 

 and at about the same time in Georgian Bay. Whitefish were the 

 chief species sought, and the nets were therefore set in shallow water. 

 When the supply of whitefish was exhausted the nets were shifted 

 into deeper waters for trout. In 1902 chub fishing, which had for 

 many years been a considerable industry on Lake Michigan, was 

 begun on Lake Huron out of Alpena, and by 1911 boats were fishing 

 chubs out of about 10 ports on the lake, using 2^-inch gill nets on 

 the American side and 3-inch nets on the Canadian side. Iii Georgian 

 Bay chub fishing began about 1912. Chubs have fallen off in the last 

 five years so that few boats now fish them exclusively, and the gill-net 

 industry has since been supported by trout and whitefish. 



Hook fishing, introducecl on the lake by Lake Michigan fishermen 

 about 1916, has gro\vn in favor on both sides of the boundary, but its 

 development has been hampered somewhat on the Canadian shore by 

 the restrictions against bait catching. 



Pound nets are said to have been mtroduced on the American shore 

 as early as 1854, but they were not fished in very considerable numbers 

 till after 1885. The number increased during the nineties, but with 

 the increase in value of "rough fish" they have in recent years given 

 place largely to trap nets and are now employed extensively only in 

 Saginaw Bay and the Thunder Bay region. On the Canadian shore 



{)Ounds were first fished about 1882. Most of the pounds have been 

 icensed in the North Channel and at the lower end of Lake Huron. 

 The number has fluctuated considerably and their use has at times 



