100 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



decrease iu the sturgeon and pike catch. AVhitetish, herring, and 

 other species showed little variation in abundance. The average price 

 of lish in 1893 was about half a cent per jjound more than in 1890. 



The product of this lake in each of the four years for which statistics 

 are available was as follows : 



Comparison of the yield of the fisheries of Lake Huron in 1880, 1885, 1890, and 1893. 



LAKE ST. CLAIR. 



At one time the fisheries of this lake and the rivers connected with 

 it yielded com])arative]y large quantities of sturgeon, whitefish, and lake 

 herring, but iu 1893 the catch of all these fishes was very small, and 

 such minor species as perch and suckers constituted a prominent part 

 of the catch. As compared with 1890, the fisheries have undergone 

 a decline in all principal items. The number of persons engaged in 

 actual fishing- dropped from 517 to 154. The number of pound nets, 

 the principal form of apparatus, decreased from 34 to 27; this decrease, 

 however, was more than compensated for by the employment of a large 

 number (64) of trap nets similar to those fished in Lake Erie. Seines 

 numbered 28 in 1890 and 20 in 1893. The total capital invested, however, 

 was larger in the latter year, owing to the expansion of the wholesale 

 trade. A comparative summary of the output of the Lake St. Clair, 

 St. Clair Eiver, and Detroit Eiver fisheries in 1880, 1885, 1890, and 1893 

 Is given : 



Comparison of the yield of the fisheries of Lake St. Clair and tributaries in 1880, 1885, 

 1890, and 1893. 



Note.— Included in the figures for 1890 is the catch of several vessels that lielonged in this section 

 but took flsli in Lakes Huron and Erie, as follows: Lake Huron, 244,847 pounds of tront and 26,064 

 pounds of -vvhitelish: Lake Erie, 29,243 pounds of perch, 297,934 pounds of herring, and 46,276 pounds 

 of wall-eyed pike. In 1893 one vessel, similarly owned and operated, took the following fish, which 

 areembraced in the above table: Lake Huron, 72,000 pounds of trout and 12,000 pounds of whitefish; 

 Lake Erie, 130,787 pounds of herring. 



