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U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Estimates vary as to the amount of loss suffered by the individual 

 fisherman; it is safe to say that 10 per cent of the total expenditures 

 must be allowed for expenses due to netting under the most favorable 

 circumstances, and that this expense may even run as high as 50 per 

 cent in stormy seasons, or seasons when the catch is small. The 

 estimates of the United States Tariff Commission for 1924 (which 

 cover data upon 28.65 per cent of the total catch of fish) place the 

 average per cent cost of gear — excluding vessel repairs and replace- 

 ments — at 17.46 per cent of the total fishing costs for the Great Lakes. ^ 

 This report places the expense due to fishing gear on Lake Erie at 14.29 

 per cent of the total expenses, while the expenses of Lake Superior 

 fisheries are as great as 21 .98 per cent of the total costs The compar- 

 atively low cost cited for Lake Erie is not what one expects in view 

 of the reported opinions on rotting of gear and the relatively high 



Figure 1.— One method used for washing pound nets on Lake Erie 



water temperatures known to prevail; but when one considers that 

 Lake Erie producers have labor and "share" costs much larger than 

 those of the other lakes, it is apparent why the fractional part of the 

 cost of gear may appear smaller. It would be very instructive to 

 have more detailed data concerning the cost of nets; but, unfortu- 

 nately, it is very difficult to assemble such material. 



It was recognized that Lake Erie fishermen employ the greater part 

 of the gear used on the Great Lakes, and that the ability of Lake 

 Erie to produce its large yields of fish is due to its natural conditions 

 favorable to fish life, such as warmth, shallowness, reaction of water, 

 and oxygen tension, all of which combine to produce a great quantity 

 of fish food. Funds were not available for research in 1927, but a 

 brief field inquiry by W. T. Conn, technologist of this bureau, indi- 

 cated that the damage to nets might be due to bacterial action. 



« These data are given in their Tariff Information Survey No. 36 on "Lake Fish." U. S. Tariff Com- 

 mission. 



