66 



The total pounds of white fish taken in 1885 was 

 8,143,626, in 1891, 8,110,387, in 1892, 6,347,535, and in 

 1893- 5.345,800. 



There was an increase in the number of steam craft 

 engaged in fishing in 1891 over 1885, of 20 per cent,, 

 in 1892, of 5 per cent., and in 1893 of 26 per cent. 



Of boats eneaofed in the fisheries, other than steam, 

 there was an increase of 94 per cent, in 1891 over 

 1885, of 54 per cent, in 1892 over 1885, and of 91 per 

 cent, in 1893 over 1885. 



These figures show that while there was a larcre in- 

 crease in apparatus and boats during this period, there 

 was an alarming decrease in the quantity of fish taken. 



The causes contributing to this decay have already 

 been alluded to, but a word further may properly be 

 said on the subject. Since 1830 the Lake fisheries 

 have been prosecuted with ever increasing ardor. The 

 profits arising from the industry have been large, and 

 the ereed of the fishermen has " crrown on what it feeds 

 on." The introduction of the pound net marked the 

 beginning of an epoch of rapid decay, and this engine 

 of destruction, while not solely responsible, is largely 

 so, for the rapid depletion of the waters. The erection 

 of freezers at many of the Lake ports has also tended 

 to the same end. They have made it possible for the 

 fishermen to take every fish he can in the warmer 

 season of the year, and preserve them by refrigeration 

 until a more favorable market is presented when he 

 can dispose of them to advantage. In fact it has made 

 fishing profitable the year round. The result has been 

 that the only protection afforded the fish has been 

 the brief j^espite afforded by the severer winters 

 when nature closes the lakes with a shield of ice, and 

 when the fierce autumnal gales have swept out the 

 nets. At all other seasons of the year the fishermen 



