440 REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 LAIvE ONTARIO.* 



General importance of the fisheries. — The present relative unimport- 

 ance of the fisheries of this lake, as compared with the extent of the 

 industry in other lakes, is coexistent with a decrease since 1880 in two 

 of the most important fishes that has been un])aralleled in the history 

 of the lake fisheries. The scarcity of fishes that were formerly abun- 

 dant and the possibility of further reduction in the fish supply have 

 drawn to the fisheries of Lake Ontario more attention than has been 

 accorded to the industry in any other lake except Lake Erie, and have 

 resulted in a very extensive movement on the part of legislators, 

 sportsmen, fish-culturists, and the general public, having for its object 

 the preservation and increase of the valuable fishery resources of the 

 lake. While a few persons express the opinion that there has been no 

 actual diminution in the abundance of fish life, and that the small 

 yield is due to natural causes, there seems little ground for doubt that 

 the lake has been overfished, that some of the best fishes have not had 

 proper protection during the spawning period, and that artificial propa- 

 gation has not been resorted to on a sufficiently large scale to oft'set or 

 overcome the depletion caused by man. 



The previous abundance of fish in the lake shows that the waters 

 are capable of sustaining much more important fishing than4ias been 

 carried on for a number of years. While it is possible that the vast 

 quantities of alewives now found in the lake may affect in some indirect 

 way the growth of young fish and the increase in the numbers of mar- 

 ketable fish, it is extremely improbable that the natural conditions 

 have undergone any marked changes that militate against the renewal 

 of fisheries of as great extent as have ever existed. The IT. S. Com- 

 missioner of Fish and Fisheries has stated that "it is not only possi- 

 ble, it is entirely practicable, to restore and maintain these fisheries 

 by adequate resort to means and agencies entirely within our control" — 

 the "means and agencies" consisting of the application of well-known 

 fish-cultural principles, v/hich, under similar conditions in other waters, 

 have been satisfactorily applied. 



The principal fishing centers in this lake are Cape Vincent, Sacketts 

 Harbor, Oswego, and Wilson. Much the largest fishing interests are 

 located in Jefferson County, which occupies the eastern part of the 

 lake and includes most of the important fishing-grounds. Oswego 

 County, which joins Jefferson on the west, and Niagara County, at the 

 extreme western limit of the State, also have relatively valuable fish- 

 eries. In the remaining counties of Cayuga, Wayne, Monroe, and 

 Orleans, however, the fisheries are of slight extent. 



*A report on tlie fisheries of tliis lake, prepared by the present writer, haa 

 already appeared in the Bnlletin of tlje U. S. Fish Commission for 1890. It contains 

 some information that it is not necessary to incorporate in this article, and may be 

 consulted by those especially interested in the fisheries of this lake. 



