678 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
TABLE I19.—COMPARISON OF THE ANNUAL CATCH AND PLANTS OF WHITEFISH AND Tora, LENGTH oF 
Nets IN USE IN UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN WATERS OF LAKE ONTARIO FOR THE YEARS 1899 
AND 1903. 
Canadian waters, whitefish area 1,400 square miles. 
Catch. Plant. Nets. 
Veat. Total Pounds Pounds asa Fry per Fry Led Total Fathoms 
per square per net- otal fry. square poun per square 
pounds. mile. fathom. mile. caught. fathoms. mile. 
go ee 259,000 185 ras 5.050, 000 3,607 19 168, 200 120 
BOOZ. 45-4a 97,000 69 52 3,000, 000 2,142 30 186, 400 133 
United States waters, whitefish area 800 square miles. 
TEQOo a sos 161,900 202 2.0 13. 475,000 16,847 83 79,700 99 
f9o0ge > seo ssee ee 25,400 32 -22 | 43,920,000 54,900 1,729 114,400 143 
| 
It seems clear to the writer that limitation of the length of the nets in use 
has not resulted in an improvement of the whitefish production. The white- 
fish catch in Canadian waters of Lake Erie has diminished and again increased 
(see table 9), although the length of nets has remained but a fraction of that 
on the American side of the same lake. The same thing has happened on the 
American side of the lake, if we may judge by the only available statistics, 
those of the State of Pennsylvania, which are given in table 21. 
In table 20 are shown the lengths of nets used in American and Canadian 
waters of Lake Erie, as compared to the total catch of all fish in the same 
waters. From this it appears that when all fish are considered the Canadian 
nets took in 1899 about four times as many pounds of fish per fathom as the 
American nets, while in 1903 they took about three times as many pounds. 
TABLE 20.—COMPARING IN ROUND NUMBERS THE TOTAL LENGTH oF GILL AND Pounp NETS AND 
THE CATCH OF ALL FISH IN CANADIAN AND AMERICAN WATERS OF LAKE ERIE FOR THE YEARS 
1899 AND 1903. 
Canadian waters. American waters. 
Year. | Catch per Catch per 
Nets. Catch net- Nets. Catch. net- 
| fathom. fathom. 
| | 
| 
| Fathoms. Pounds. | Pounds. Fathoms. Pounds. Pounds. 
$800 3 cas asap ae Scoot ee 107,900 | 10,063,000 93 | . 2,325,200 | 58,394,000 25 
NQOG oa se we en es se we 169, 300 5,409, 000 32 |. 1,816,300 | 23, 189,000 12 
a 
