584 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



off the Duck Islands with 3M-iiich nets, which were later reduced to 

 3 inch. From 1911 to 1918 was the period of greatest production, 

 and at some time during this period boats were fishing chubs out of 

 Cheboygan, Rogers, Alpena, Harbor Beach, Goderich, Kincardine, 

 Southampton, Tobermory, Lion's Head, Cabot's Head, and Wiarton. 



There are four species of commercial chubs in Lake Huron, all but 

 one apparently of general distribution throughout the deeper waters 

 of the lake and of Georgian Bay. They are taken only in gill nets, 

 which are of 2^-inch mesh in American waters and 3-inch mesh in 

 Canadian waters. The chub nets usually are set in depths of 60 

 fathoms or more, except where such depths are not attainable, as at 

 the northern and southern ends of the lake, and then 30 fathoms 

 usually is the lower limit. The spawning season for the four species 

 ranges between the middle of August and January, and some of the 

 spawning areas of two of the species are known. At this time they 

 are taken as abundantly as possible. Chubs have never been pro- 

 tected by a closed season, nor are they propagated. 



It is generally believed by American fishermen that chubs have 

 decreased in Lake Huron. At any rate, it is now necessary to 

 increase the equipment in order to maintain the catch, and off Che- 

 boygan, where one species is caught on its spawning grounds in 

 September and October, the lifts are no longer as heavy as formerly. 

 On the Canadian shores the decrease is more marked. With 3-inch 

 nets the Canadian fishermen have always had a considerably smaller 

 percentage of the chub population to draw from, and they were early 

 forced to discontinue fishing where they met the American 2^-inch 

 nets, as off the Duck Islands. Off Southampton the catches on the 

 chub grounds west-northwest of the cit}^ fell off after about three 

 years, and the boats have been unable to find new grounds. In 

 Georgian Bay chubs have been fished since 1912, but since about 

 1916 the numbers taken have been much reduced. The fishermen 

 say that the lawyer is now a conspicuous element here in the chub 

 nets set at 60 fathoms. Whether the lawyer has appropriated the 

 area vacated by the chubs or is directly responsible for their decrease 

 is not known. 



WALL-EYED PIKE 



Only the yeUow race of the wall-eyed pike is commercially impor- 

 tant in Lake Huron, and the principal catches on the American side 

 are made in the pounds and traps of Saginaw Bay and in Canadian 

 waters chiefly in the pounds around the islands of the North Channel, 

 on the east coast of Georgian Bay, and around Sarnia on the St. 

 Clair River. The wall-eyed pike has always been esteemed as a 

 food fish and has been intensively fished for. Latterly the demand 

 has increased and the price of the fish has risen enormously at certain 

 seasons (40 cents per pound has been paid by the New York markets), 

 and production everywhere has fallen off. The fish is nowhere pro- 

 tected by a closed season but is extensively propagated. 



YELLOW PERCH 



In American waters the yellow perch is taken in abundance only 

 in Saginaw Bay, while on the Canadian shore the bulk of the catch 

 is made off Huron County at the lower end of the lake. Pounds and 



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