FISHING INDUSTRY OF THE GREAT LAKES 585 



traps are the principal mode of capture. Perch were an important 

 element in the fisheries on the American shore as early as 1885, and 

 during the late nineties and between 1900 and 1908 production was 

 greatest. There has been a decrease from the maximum recorded 

 catch of 2,740,669 pounds in American waters in 1899 to 633,188 

 pounds in 1922. On the Canadian shore perch have been much less 

 important, and until 1894 were not reported in the statistics of the 

 fisheries. The maximum catch recorded was only 321,680 pounds 

 taken in 1907, which was never approached before nor has it been 

 since. There is no closed season for perch. The species is propagated 

 to some extent, but only in American waters. 



SUCKERS 



The white sucker is the principal one of this species marketed, and 

 most of the production is sold fresh in the round to the New York 

 markets. At present the chief catches are made in trap nets in Amer- 

 ican waters north of Cheboygan, in traps and pounds in Saginaw 

 Bay, and with pound nets in the North Channel. Up to 1890 prac- 

 tically the entire catch of suckers on the American shore came from 

 Saginaw Bay and Saginaw River, but since about 1905 an increasingly 

 large percentage has come from the northern waters and the abun- 

 dance of suckers in Saginaw Bay has diminished, so that in 1917 a 

 little more than one-third of the total catch, which was roughly 60 

 per cent more than it was in 1890, originated in Saginaw Bay. In 

 1922, however, the northern sucker fisheries declined and tho'se in 

 Saginaw Bay improved so that the bulk of the catch again originated 

 in Saginaw Bay. Fishermen hold that the pollution of Saginaw 

 River has seriously affected the abundance of the sucker in that area. 



On the Canadian shore suckers have become increasingly impor- 

 tant since 1910. 



There is no closed season for suckers, and none are propagated. 



STURGEON 



The sturgeon has never been extremely abundant in Lake Huron, 

 but in the earliest fisheries of the lake it was commonly hauled ashore 

 from the pounds and seines as a nuisance. By 1880 it was marketable 

 on the American side of the lake, and by 1885 it was generally taken 

 for sale in Canadian waters. At present it is the most expensive and 

 rarest fish in the lake. The principal production is now credited to 

 North Channel and the St. Clair River mouth, but no more than 

 30,000 pounds are now produced annually. There is no closed 

 season for the species and none are propagated. 



OTHER INDIGENOUS SPECIES 



The only other native species of importance in the fisheries are 

 the pike in the North Channel and Georgian Bay and the Menom- 

 inee in the northern American waters. 



INTRODUCED SPECIES 



CARP 



The carp is the only abundant nonindigenous species in the lake. 

 The catch is taken almost exclusively in Saginaw Bay, and seines 

 are the chief apparatus of capture. In the census of 1903 it was 



