FISHING INDUSTRY OF THE GREAT LAKES 



605 



Table 14. — Weight, in pounds, of the annual catch of each of the important species 

 and amount of gill netting used in the Canadian waters of Lake Ontario, as shown 

 by 10 censuses — Continued 



Species 



Whiteflsh 



Trout 



Herring, including ciscoes 



Sturgeon. 



Pickerel 



Pike 



Eels 



Perch 



Catfish 



Carp 



Mixed and coarse fish 



Gill nets, yards 



1905 



472, 



75, 



1, 390, 



14, 



48, 



203, 



19, 



179, 



135, 



(■) 



257, 



499, 



1910 



694, 000 

 413, 000 

 997, 000 



60,000 

 378,000 

 104, 000 

 128, 000 

 269, 000 

 140, 000 

 367, 000 

 1, 075, 000 



1915 



817, 000 



555,000 



, 801, 000 



1,000 



85,000 



366, 000 



219, 000 



119, 000 



267, 000 



112,000 



438, 000 



887, 000 



1920 



2, 027, 000 



462, 000 



1, 291, 000 



46, 000 

 311,000 



91, 000 

 107, 000 

 170, 000 



65,000 



413, 000 



1, 057, 000 



1922 



2, 098, 000 

 721,000 

 345, 000 

 1,000 

 144, 000 

 250, 000 

 146, 000 

 74,000 

 177,000 

 121, 000 

 448, 000 



1,600,000 



• Not separated from "mixed and coarse flsh." 



WHITEFISH 



The whitefish originally ranked first in the fisheries on the American 

 shore, but few are now taken and theise are produced for the most 

 part in Jefferson and Oswego Counties. At other points along the 

 American shore they are taken only occasionally. The whitefish is 

 now first in abundance on the Canadian side of the lake and still 

 supports a fishery out of many ports, but by far the most productive 

 whitefish area lies eastward from Brighton. The best spawning 

 grounds are also in this region. Gill nets are the principal apparatus 

 of capture. There have been times when in many sections the 

 species was rarer than at present and the fishermen ascribe the 

 increase to planting and to the unusually low mortality among the 

 alewives in recent years. There is no closed season for whitefish on 

 the lake, but the species is extensively propagated. 



LAKE TROUT 



The lake trout is now an insignificant element in the American 

 waters and such few as are taken come from the eastern end of the 

 lake. On the Canadian shore the trout is next in importance to the 

 whitefish, and its geographical distribution is similar to that of the 

 whitefish, being most abundant at the eastern end. The fish is taken 

 chiefly in gill nets, though there was a time prior to 1900 when set 

 lines were employed to some extent. There is no closed season on 

 trout and the species has not been very extensively propagated. 



HERRING 



On the American shore of Lake Ontario herring are taken princi- 

 pally in the area from Sodus Bay eastward to the St. Lawrence 

 River. Most of them are caught in the fall in trap nets and gill 

 nets when they come ashore to spawn, but a few fishermen, particu- 

 larly in Oswego County, fish for them with gill nets during the summer 

 and take them abundantly in water as deep as 200 feet. 



On the Canadian shore most of the herring are taken in shallow 

 water at the west end of the lake and in the Bay of Quinte region. 

 Herring are also found at the west end in deep water, and until 1923 



