98 



REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



LAKE SUPERIOR. 



The importance of the fisheries of this lake depends on the catch of 

 lake trout and its deep-water variety, the siscowet. These fish in 1893 

 constituted 54 per cent of the quantity and 5G per cent of the value of 

 the yield. The only other species of noteworthy consequence is the 

 common whitefish. Superior is the only lake except Huron the fish- 

 eries of which have undergone a general advance since the last inves- 

 tigation. Further developments may be expected with the increase in 

 population and transportation facilities. 



The run of trout in 1893 was very good, and the catch largely exceeded 

 that in 1890. The increase was in part due to tlie more general utiliza- 

 tion of the siscowet, which had previously been neglected on account 

 of its extreme fatness. The whitefish fishery seems to have reached 

 its height in 1885; since tluit time the product of the fish has dimin- 

 ished, and in 1893 was smaller than in any of the previous years 

 (except 1880) for which figures are available. The fishermen in 1893 

 devoted considerable attention to the cai)ture of species almost wholly 

 neglected ten years before, such as herring, suckers, and ling. In 1880 

 the catch of all species other than trout and whitefish was only 3 per 

 cent of the product, while in 1893 it constituted 12 per cent. Sturgeon, 

 while never specially abundant in this lake, are getting scarcer, and 

 between 1885 and 1893 the catch decreased nearly two-thirds. 



The following comparison shows the results of the Lake Superior 

 fisheries during four j^ears: 



Comparison of the yield of ihe fisheries of Lake Superior in 1880, 1885, 1890, and 189S. 



LAKE MICHKJAN. 



The most prominent features of tlie fishing industry of Lake Michi- 

 gan are the large lleet of vessels engaged in the gill net fishery, the 

 extensive pound-net and shore gill-net fisheries, and the very large 

 yield of lake trout. 



Tlie trout constituted more than one fourth the total catch of all 

 species, and its value was nearly two-fifths tliat of the aggregate outjuit. 

 More trout were taken in Lake Michigan in 1893 than in all the other 

 lakes combined, and the value of the trout here caught was nearly one- 

 seventh that of the entire lake fisheries. This fish was obtained in 



