3G2 EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Bower and B. A. Tulian were detailed from the Division of Fisli-cnlture 

 to assist iu the field inquirie.s. Mr. Bower canvassed that part of Lake 

 Erie west of Sandusky, and Mr. Tnliau the American shores of Lake 

 Huron. The duty of i)reparing- the notes of the agents for publication 

 and of discussing the prominent features disclosed by the statistics has 

 devolved upon Dr. Hugh M. Smith, the assistant in charge of the 

 Division of Statistics and IMethods of the Fisheries. 



This report is essentially a detailed statistical presentation of the 

 various i^hases of the lake fisheries. The iirevious full discussions of 

 the methods employed, descriptions of the apparatus and boats used, 

 and notes on the fishes taken render further information of this kind 

 uncalled for and make necessary at this time only a notice of the princi- 

 pal changes which have occurred in these matters since tlie last inquiry. 

 The statistical matter and the accompanying text are arranged with 

 a view to show (1) the general extent of the lake fisheries and their 

 importance as compared with 1880 and 1885; (2) the fisheries considered 

 by lakes; (3) the fisheries considered by States; and (4) the extent and 

 results of artificial propagation. 



Attention may properly be directed to one ieature of the paper which 

 has not appeared in any previous report on the Great Lakes fisheries, 

 viz, the presentation of statistics showing the quantity of each prin- 

 cipal fish taken with each kind of a])paratus. The tables are inter esting 

 for the information given and are ijuportantin affording an op[)ortunity 

 to make comparisions of the relative catch of the difierent species with 

 the different appliances in future years. An invaluable basis is fur- 

 nished for determining- the existence of augmentation or diminution in 

 the supply of the various fishes, the extent of the increase or decrease, 

 and the form of fishery in which it has occurred. 



The extent of the fisheries of the Great Lakes region, as determined 

 by the inquiries of thfs Commission, was as follows : Persons employed, 

 9,738; capital iii vested, $5,302,744 pounds of fish taken, 113,898,531; 

 value of the catch to the fishermen, $2,471,708. 



The canvass of the fisheries of the lake region was materially 

 assisted by the fishermen and wholesale dealers, without whose hearty 

 cooperation a satisfactory inquiry could not have been made. Dealers 

 in every section gave to the agents of the Commission free access to 

 their records, thus permitting the collection of the most reliable statis- 

 tics and, in some instances, furnishing necessary data that could not 

 otherwise have been obtained, in the absence of records kept by the 

 fishermen. Dealers in many places also accorded to the Commission's 

 agents free passage on their fishing and collecting steamers, and so 

 contributed to abetter understanding of the fisheries as well as a sav- 

 ing of time and expense. The thanks of the Commission are heartily 

 extended to the fishing interests of the lakes. 



Marshall McDonald, 

 U. IS. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. 



