100 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



decrease in the sturgeon and pike catch. Whitefish, herring, and 

 othei' species showed little variation in abundance. The average price 

 of tisli in 1893 was about half a cent i)er pound more than in 1890. 



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

 are available was as follows: 



Com2)arison of ike yield of the fisheries of Lake Huron in ISSO, 1SS5, ISOO, and 1SD3. 



LAKE ST. CLAIR. 



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

 ityielded('om])aratively large quantities of sturgeon, whiteflsh, and lake 

 herring, but in 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 454. The number of pound nets, 

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

 however, was more than compensated for b}' 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 comi)arative summary of the output of the Lake St. Clair, 

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

 is given : 



Comparison of the yield of the fisheries of Lake St. Clair and trihutaries in ISSO, 1885, 



1890, and 1893. 



Note. — Included in the figures for 1890 in the catch of several vesselrt that hclonged in this section 

 lint took tisli in Lakes Huron and Erie, as follows: Lake Huron, 244. .S47 ])Ounils of trout and 26,064 

 jiounds of whitclish ; Lake Erie, 2it.243 jiounds of perch. 297,934 pounds of herriiiL:. and 40,276 pounds 

 of walleyed jiike. In 1893 one vessel, similarly owned anil operated, took the followii:ji lish. which 

 areeuihriiced in the ahov<' table: Lake Huron, 72,000 pouudsof trout antl 12,000 poundsof whitelish; 

 Lake Erie, 130,787 jiounds of hei'ring. 



