FISHING INDUSTRY OP THE GREAT LAKES 583 



alone, there appears to have been no serious depletion in this fishery 

 since 1900 and in several localities the fishermen even report increases. 

 It is not possible to establish statistically the question of abundance 

 during this period, since the statistical bulletins do not furnish the 

 kind of data that are needed. In some areas of greater abundance 

 the increase has been attributed to the effects of propagation, but 

 in others, particularly in North Channel and Georgian Bay, where no 

 plants were made previous to the reported increase, some other 

 explanation must be sought. The increased catches of 1917 and 

 1922 in American waters, on which to a greater or less degree the 

 opinions of increase are based, were at least in part due to the higher 

 value of rough fish, which are taken in the shoal waters along with 

 the whitefish. Thus, while the opening of the interior lakes of 

 Canada has kept the price of whitefish down to a point where in 

 many areas it would be unprofitable to prosecuue fisheries dependent 

 on this species alone, with the rise in value of species taken inciden- 

 tally, the shore fisheries have been stimulated and the catch of white- 

 fish, even though the species may not actually be more abundant, 

 has increased. 



HERRING 



The bulk of the catch of lake herring or blueback is taken in the 

 pound nets of Saginaw Bay. Herring are taken also on the American 

 shore in the fall by gill nets out of Oscoda, Alpena, and along the 

 northern shores of the lake. The Canadian fishermen take few 

 herring, relatively and absolutely, and the bulk of the catch is pro- 

 duced along the Bruce peninsula and at the south end of Lake Huron. 

 There has never been a closed season on herring, and few have ever 

 been planted, but the fishermen at Bay City are of the opinion that 

 the supply has not diminished significantly. 



Each locality has its own race of herring, and these races are often 

 characterized by size differences, considerations that have induced 

 the Michigan legislators to permit a 2H-inch mesh for the taking of 

 these fish. One of the largest races occurs in Thunder Bay and north- 

 ward to Middle Island, where it is the object of a considerable fishery 

 when it spawns in November. 



Originally the herring was but little esteemed and was taken, as in 

 other lakes, only if it could be sold at all. Latterly, with the falling 

 off of other available species, it has been caught regularly at locahties 

 where it could be taken in quantities. Most of these fish are salted, 

 though increasingly large quantities find their way to the markets 

 in the fresh state. 



CHUBS 



Fishing for chubs began later in Lake Huron than in any of the 

 other lakes. What factors were responsible for the delay is not 

 exactly clear, inasmuch as their presence was discovered many years 

 previously when the deep-water trout nets took them, but it is 

 probable that trout were sufficiently abundant and prices satisactory 

 enough to afford no stimulus for experimenting with a new industry, 

 particularly when it involved the purchase of an entirely different 

 equipment of netting. In 1902 chubs were fished for in 60 fathoms 

 off Alpena with 2M-inch nets, and a few years later they were taken 

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