458 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Ecfereiice should also be made to the efforts of the State fish commis- 

 sions to replenish the fish supply of this region. Michigan,Wisconsin, 

 Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio have done excellent propagation 

 work and hundreds of millions of fry of food and game fishes have 

 been deposited in the lake waters. The fisheries department of Canada 

 has also engaged extensively in the culture of the native fish of the 

 lake region. 



The importance of the efforts made to maintain and increase the 

 abundance of food-fishes is very generally recognized among the fishing 

 interests of the lakes, and the fish-cultural operations meet with the 

 hearty indorsement of fishermen, fish-dealers, and the public. Eeliance 

 on the efficacy of artificial methods in preserving the fishery resources 

 of the lakes is almost universal in the important fishing districts, and 

 there are few well-informed persons practically interested in the lake 

 fisheries who are not willing to accord praise to fish-culture for the 

 results achieved in arresting a diminution in the supply or in maintain- 

 ing a profitable industry in the face of an enormous annual catch, a 

 great increase in the amount of apparatus used, and the prosecution 

 of fishing under circumstances that are extremely unfavorable for the 

 natural increase of the fishes taken. 



In the extreme western end of Lake Erie, to which region the white- 

 fish naturally resoi'ts for the purj^ose of spawning, the supply is almost 

 wholly cut off by the multiplication of nets in other parts of the lake. 

 Here the fishermen are beginning to depend on other fishes for their 

 catch, and are desirous of having the supply of species with more 

 localized habits increased. Writing in 1891 on the Maumee Bay and 

 Monroe sections, Mr. Seymour Bower said : 



As to the intrinsic merits of artificial propagation as a factor in multiplying water 

 life, the lishernion of this section, almost without exception, believe in it; but, so 

 far as whitetish are concerned, the opinion is quite prevalent that, under the circum- 

 stances, the interests of this section are practically debarred from participating in 

 the benefits. Naturally, therefore, there is some indift'erence regarding the propa- 

 gation of whitefish, but a growing interest in behalf of any means to increase the 

 supply of sturgeon, catfish, and pike perch. 



The foregoing comparative statistics of the products of the fisheries 

 show that in nearly every lake the catch of whitefish — the species hav- 

 ing the greatest interest to fish-culturists — has decreased since 1S85. 

 No well-informed person, however, will argue from this that fish-culture 

 in the Great Lakes is a failure. The repeated successes which have 

 attended the culture of the lajje fishes in some smaller bodies of water, 

 where the natural conditions were certainly not superior to those of the 

 Great Lakes, demonstrate the feasibility of the propagation of the lake 

 fishes and afford a suggestive example. The absence of more con- 

 spicuous results in the Great Lakes may be regarded in the light of the 

 followin g considerations : 



1. Owing to the large size of these lakes, it is possible that the fish- 

 cultural operations have not been sufficiently extensive to overcome the 

 destruction by man of fish and undeposited spawn. The planting of a 



