THE GREAT LAKES FISHERIES IN 1899. 585 
of the lake heretofore depended upon for an unfailing supply. White- 
fish Bay, at the eastern end of Lake Superior, has always been noted 
for the large quantities of white-fish and trout taken in its waters, but 
the catch is becoming smaller each succeeding year. At Whitefish 
Point, in this bay, in the year 1893 five steamers, fishing 1,360 gill 
nets, and 52 pound nets operated by small boats, took 833,068 pounds of 
white-fish and 1,074,541 pounds of trout. In 1899 there was but one 
vessel, with 360 gill nets, and the number of pound nets had been 
reduced to 16; the catch was only 204,718 pounds of white-fish and 
260,689 pounds of trout; a decrease between the years mentioned of 
628,350 pounds of white-fish and 813,852 pounds of trout. Other 
localities on the lake show a falling off in products, although to a 
smaller extent usually than the one cited, but there are very few 
instances in which any increase has occurred. 
Protective legislation.—An effort has been made by the States 
having a frontage on Lake Superior to arrest the decline in the fish- 
eries. The State of Michigan has followed Wisconsin by enacting a 
close season on the Great Lakes. The law of Michigan provides for 
a cessation of fishing from October 30 to December 15 in each year, 
and that of Wisconsin from November 1 to December 15. These laws, 
it is claimed, will afford greater protection to the fish during the 
spawning period. Furthermore, Wisconsin has a law prohibiting the 
fishing of pound nets from the mainland in Chequamegon or Ashland 
bay, and no gill nets are allowed to be fished within 1 mile of the 
shore. These laws do not apply to the islands in the body of water 
mentioned, which are also owned by the State of Wisconsin. 
The principal jishes.—The fisheries of Lake Superior depend largely 
upon the catch of trout and white-fish, and when a scarcity in these 
species occurs the season is considered a poor one by the fishermen. 
The white-fish has always been the more important species, and has 
constituted the greater part of the products, but in 1893 the catch of 
this fish had fallen off considerably and was exceeded by that of trout. 
Since that time the trout has been as prominent as the white-fish 
formerly was, and the catch of trout in 1899 represented over half 
the entire yield of the lake. In the meantime the catch of white-fish 
has decreased from 2,732,270 pounds, valued at $93,672 in 1893, to 
693,191 pounds, valued at $25,547 in 1899. White-fish and trout do 
not run together to any great extent until a few weeks before and 
during the spawning season. At other times of the year they are 
found separate, and the catch from different grounds is either all 
white-fish or all trout, as the case may be. The fishermen have also 
noticed that the fishing-grounds from which a large catch of these 
species has been taken in the fall yield a much smaller quantity of fish 
when visited again the following spring. 
The herring is abundant in all parts of the lake. It is caught prin- 
