372 KEPORT OF THE COJIMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISflERIES. 



Dotli tlio fislioniioii :iih1 dealers take umcli interest in tlie artificial 

 propagation of fish and realize its value in keepin<? up the supply; 

 they concede the importance of fish-cultural work in enabling the fish- 

 ermen to sup))ly the increasing- demand for food-fish. The following 

 statement regarding the results of fish-culture in this lake emanates 

 from the Census Ofiice: 



Tbo information of local fishermen on the work of the U. S. Fish Commission in 

 Saint Louis County, Minn., is that much good has been done and the catch, 

 especially ofwhitofisli, considerably incroasefl. The fishermen claim that they are 

 able to judge accurately of the benefit done them by the hatcliiug and distribution 

 of whitelish, for the reason that, as the ova used at the Duluth, Minn., hatcheries 

 are obtained from Lakes Erie and Michigan, the iish are difi'erent andean readily be 

 distinguished from those native to those waters. They say that the fish from Lakes 

 Erie and Michigan are lighter in color and rarely weigh over 4.5 pounds, while Lake 

 Superior whitoilsli often weigh as much as 16 jjounds. — (Census Bulletin 173. Fish- 

 eries of the Great Lakes.) 



Apparatus and metliods. — While practically every form of fishing 

 apparatus found in the Great Lakes region is represented in the fish- 

 eries of Lake Superior, the pound net and gill net are especially prom- 

 inent. Fyke nets, seines, dip nets, spears, and lines are in some regions 

 locally important as means of capture, but are insignificant taking the 

 entire lake into consideration. 



The pound net is employed in every county on this lake, with the 

 exception of two counties in Minnesota. The most important fisheries 

 are in Alger, Baraga, Chippewa, and Ontonagon counties, Mich., and 

 Ashland County, Wis. The 140 nets used in the American waters of 

 the lake were valued at 134,435. A prominent feature of the pound-net 

 fishery of the lake is the great depth of water in which some nets 

 are set. At Whitefish Point, in Chippewa County, at the eastern end 

 of the lake, some of the j)ounds are 80 feet deep, and are put in water 

 80 feet deep, the surplus of 6 feet being allowed for slacking; the poles 

 to which the nets are attached are 97 or 98 feet long, an.d consist of 

 spliced tamarack and pine poles. The loaders are 40 to 75 rods long, 

 the pot 36 feet square, and the heart or pound 4 rods long. In lifting 

 i\\Q, pot a windlass is used. These are among the largest and deepest 

 pound nets found in the Great Lakes. Others from 40 to 70 feet in 

 depth are operated in various sections of the lake, but much the largest 

 number of the pound nets are set in 1:0 to 30 feet of water. 



The prevailing sizes of mesh in the dilferent parts of the net are as 

 follows: Leader, 7 to 8 inches (stretch); bowl or heart, 5 to 6 inches; 

 pot, 3.J inches. The tendency to set the net in long continuous lines, 

 which is so noticeable in Lake Erie, is not observed in Lake Superior, 

 owing chiefly to the great depth of water, which not only makes the 

 setting of pounds difficult and expensive, but also unnecessary in view 

 of the fact that the fish naturally resort to the inshore waters. The 

 largest and most expensive pound nets cost between $500 and $600 and 

 the smallest about $100, the average being $246. The only fish, consid- 

 ering the entire lake, that occupies a prominent i)lace in the pound-net 



