376 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



A feature of the fisheries of tliis hike that contrasts strongly with tlie 

 conditions in most other fishing regions is the extreme neatness and 

 cleanhness observed at the packing, curing, and cleansing houses and 

 on the fishing steamers. The houses where the fisli are handled are 

 usually built partly over the water, yet no ofial is porinitted to go into 

 the lake. On the arrival of a fishing steamer or boat a gang of men 

 or women at once dress the fish and then thoroughly wash them. Then 

 all offal is at once carried ashore, in many places some distance from 

 the houses. The refuse is quickly visited by flocks of gulls hovering 

 near by for that purpose and is qnicl.ly taken up. The fishing firms 

 protect the gulls, which serve the useful functions of scavengers. The 

 crews of steamers engaged in collecting fish from distant pound-net or 

 gill-net fisheries employ their time on the return trip in dressing the 

 fish, but no offal or blood is allowed to be thrown into tlie lake, and 

 eyen the bloody water from the hold is carried ashore. 



In parts of the lak«> considerable changes in the prevailing kinds of 

 apparatus have occurred skice 18S5. A x>oor catch with one form ot 

 apparatus, or an unusually large catch with another, may have led, in 

 a very short time, to a complete reversal of methods, the establishment 

 of new fishing centers, or the discontinuance of old fisheries. Among 

 other changes of this kind which have occurred the following nmy be 

 mentioned : 



The use of seines is much less extensive than in 1885; in that year 

 43 were employed, while at present only 1'.) or 20 are operated. What 

 was said of the seine fishery in 1885 applies novv^ with equal force: 



Prior to the iutiodiiction of pound uets seines were extensively userl for catching 

 tlie fish that chanced to be swimming in the A'iciuity of the shore; but these are now 

 only oceasioually employed for a few weeks, when the fishing is at its height, by 

 those who are not so fortunate as to own pound nets. The continued use of pounds 

 is said to have interfered with the migrations of fish in the inshore waters, and seines 

 are not now sufficiently remunerative to warrant their extended use. 



Seines are used in 5 counties, but the catch is usually insignificant. 

 About two-thirds the quantity and value of the catch is whitefish. 



Fresh and salt fish. — The demand for fresh fish is so constant that a 

 ready market exists for all fish that can be caught. In placing fresh 

 fish on the market the two methods chiefly adopted are to sliip the fish 

 in special fish cars or in ordinary boxes. The cost of transportation, 

 however, from Lake Superior to the chief distributing centers is so great 

 that cheap or inferior fish, like herring, are not profitable to catch or 

 ship, even if very abundant. 



The fishermen of this lake are averse to salting any of tl)eir catch, 

 for the reason that it requires extra labr-r and brings them less money 

 than fresh fish. ] n places remote from the wholesale purchasing-houses 

 and in regions which are not regularly visited by the collecting steam- 

 ers of the firms, a certain amount of salt fish is necessarily prepared 

 each year. This consists of trout and whitefisli. The usual prac- 

 tice is for the wholesale dealers to furnish salt and barrels to the 



