THE GREAT LAKES FISHERIES IN 1899. _ 645 
FISHERIES OF LAKE ONTARIO. 
The fishing industry of Lake Ontario in 1899 gave employment to 
315 persons, 297 of whom were engaged in the shore fisheries, the 
remainder being employed as shoresmen and on vessels transporting. 
The total investment in the fisheries of the lake was $78,543. Of 
this sum $55,348 is credited to Jefferson County. The fishing appa- 
ratus in which the greatest amount of capital was invested was gill 
nets, the number employed being 1,187, valued at $18,674. Next in 
importance were 144 trap nets, valued at $5,790, and 451 fyke nets, 
valued at $5,412. 
The yield of the fisheries of Lake Ontario in 1899 amounted to 
2,311,262 pounds, valued at $93,393. The principal species taken were: 
White-fish, 161,935 pounds, valued at $10,978; herring, 85,478 pounds, 
valued at $3,736; pike perch, 197,436 pounds, valued at $10,266; pike 
and pickerel, 100,365 pounds, valued at $5,861; yellow perch, 397,117 
pounds, valued at $11,426; cat-fish and bullheads, 518,423 pounds, 
valued at $18,834; eels, 123,840 pounds, valued at $6,163; sturgeon, 
139,385 pounds, valued at $12,049. Other species taken in important 
quantities were suckers, sun-fish, and rock bass. 
The most important form of apparatus of capture with respect to 
the quantity of fish taken was fyke nets, which yielded 833,982 pounds, 
the principal species being cat-fish and bullheads, yellow perch, suckers, 
sun-fish, and eels. Gill nets yielded 703,077 pounds, consisting chiefly 
of white-fish, pike perch, yellow perch, and herring. Pound and trap 
nets produced 551,975 pounds, consisting principally of cat-fish and 
bullheads, yellow perch, and pickerel. 
The quantities taken in other forms of apparatus were much smaller. 
The set-line fishery, which is carried on chiefly for sturgeon, yielded 
75,905 pounds. 
As compared with the year 1893, there has been an increase of 74 in 
the number of persons employed; $22,412, or nearly 40 per cent, 
in the amount of capital invested; 1,383,247 pounds, or 149 per cent, in 
the quantity, and $61,883, or 196 per cent, in the value of products. 
The increased yield of this lake in 1899 consisted almost whoily in the 
cheaper varieties of fishes. The only increase among the more valuable 
species was in white-fish, sturgeon, and trout, the yield of which was 
more than twice that of 1893. 
The imports of fresh fish from Canada entered at custom-houses on 
Lake Ontario and the Niagara River during the year 1899 aggregated 
2,650,939 pounds, the greater part of which was consumed in the inte- 
rior towns of the State of New York. 
