FISHING INDUSTRY OF THE GREAT LAKES 595 



PRINCIPAL SPECIES 



Unlike any other of the Great Lakes the chief production of Lake 

 Erie is "rough fish"; that is, species other than whitefish, herring, 

 and trout. The species taken most abundantly in 1922 in American 

 waters were, in order of abundance, herring, blue pike, sauger, carp, 

 perch, sheepshead, yellow pike, and suckers. In 1922 the principal 

 species on the Canadian side were blue pike, herring, perch, whitefish, 

 and yellow pike. The relative abundance of these and other species 

 as shown by the annual catches made on both sides of the international 

 boundary at various censuses are given in Tables 10 and 11 (pp. 592 

 and 593). 



WHITEFISH 



Whitefish formerly were produced principally on the flat at the 

 western end of the lake, where they spawned, but now most of them 

 are taken at other places on the lake, especially out of Erie, Dun- 

 kirk, and Port Maitland. Trap nets and pounds are chiefly used to 

 take them in the west, while gill nets are employed in the east. In 

 American waters the total catch showed decided improvement 

 between 1903 and 1917. It is stated by the fishermen that the pollu- 

 tion of the Detroit River has driven the fish from many of their 

 spawning grounds at the western end of the lake, and since 1920 the 

 catches on these grounds are said to have been almost insignificant. 

 The Canadian wliitefish supply was not exploited to the limit until 

 about 1908, and the catches in the last three years have fallen off 

 considerably in spite of increased apparatus. The species is nowhere 

 protected by a closed season, but spawn is collected to the capacity of 

 the various State and Federal hatcheries. 



HERRING 



The herring were for many years the mainstay of the fisheries, 

 but with the rise in value of ''rough fish" they no longer occupy 

 so important a position. They occur throughout the lake except on 

 the western flat, where they have been practically exterminated; but 

 there are several races, and the schools do not migrate from one end of 

 the lake to the other, as many of the fishermen suppose. They are 

 taken chiefly in special gill nets, which may be 25 leet deep and are 

 often floated off the bottom. The pound nets on the north shore are 

 also an important apparatus of capture. It is interesting that at 

 certain seasons the fishermen find it impossible to take them with 

 netting of any sort. 



Originally herring were so abundant that the fishermen were con- 

 tent if they could dispose of a fraction of what they were able to 

 catch, but in late years their numbers have become very much re- 

 duced, and were it not for the fact that the price asked for them by 

 the organized producers has risen to such an extent that the demand 

 is thereby curtailed, the species must by now have been more seri- 

 ously depleted. As it is, it is certain that the herring fishery could 

 not have been maintained at its present level without the use of 

 floated nets. The nets often take too many fish to suit the dealers, 

 and it is not uncommon to limit the weight of the lift that a boat 

 may bring ashore, or even to cease fishing operations entirely if the 



