FISHERIES OF THE GEEAT LAKES. 429 



Apparatus and methods. — In the foregoing notes on the fishes of this 

 lake the influence on their abundance of the apparatus and methods 

 employed was discussed at some length, making- further reference 

 to that phase of the subject unnecessary in this place. The most 

 noticeable feature connected with the consideration of the apparatus 

 used in the fisheries of this lake is the extraordinarily large increase 

 since 1885 in the numbers of the most prominent nets employed, an 

 increase uneqnaled in any other lake. In 1885 the pound and trap 

 nets numbered 1,028, which was about 300 more than were found in 

 Lake Michigan, the lake having the next imj^ortant pound-net fishery, 

 and about two-fifths the entire number of such nets in the Great Lakes 

 basin. In 1890 the number had increased to 1,893, which was 1,050 

 more than the number in Lake Michigan during the same year and 

 more than half the number set in all the lakes combined. Gill nets to 

 the number of 22,044 were operated in Lake Erie in 1885, while in 1890 

 49,320 were set, no other lake showing any increase. A less marked 

 increase has also taken place in the quantities of fyke nets emi^loyed. 

 The use of seines and lines, however, is less extensive than formerly. 



The feature which has long distinguished the pound-net fishery of 

 Lake Erie is the habit of setting the nets in long continuous strings, 

 extending out many miles from the shore. This is made possible by 

 the general shoalness of the lake and the nature of the bottom, which 

 permits the driving of stakes without difficulty. 



Aside from the growth of the pound-net fishery in the regions where 

 the nets were already employed in large numbers, there has been a 

 marked development of the fishery in localities in which the nets were 

 comparatively scarce in 1885. In that year it was recorded that — 



The pound-net fishery of Lake Erie is at the present time practically confined to 

 that portion of the lake west of Cleveland. East of that city the nets are scattered 

 and comparatively few in number, there being but 7 between Cleveland and Fair- 

 port, 14 at Fairport, and 19 at Erie, while west of Cleveland there are no less than 

 888 pounds, which are located at very short distances and in longer or shorter strings 

 along the entire coast line from Cleveland to the mouth of the Detroit River. 



The investigation of 1890 showed a large increase in the number of 

 pound nets and traps operated in the eastern end of the lake. There 

 were found to be 108 such nets used in that part of Ohio east of Cleve- 

 land, 200 in Pennsylvania, and 37 in New York. 



The use of steam vessels in the fisheries is more extensive in this 

 lake than elsewhere in the lake region, although the number of steam- 

 ers actually engage(t in fishing is less than in Lake Michigan. In 1890 

 34 vessels, carrying over 1!),00() gill nets, were employed in the fisheries 

 of the lake, and 22 additioiml steamers in transporting fish from the 

 fishing-grounds to the markets. Vessel fishing is most important at 

 Erie, PaT., where 14 vessels were employed in 1890, and at Cleveland, 

 Oliio, where 9 vessels were use<l. The number of collecting vessels is 

 greatest at Sandusky, where KJ made their headquarters in 1890. 



Tlie yield of the vessel lisliery in ISIM) was 14,079,281 pounds, having 

 a market value of §221,289. The fish of greatest importance, as regards 



