THE LAKE SUPERIOR HERRING. 



By A. C. Dunn, 



Duluth, Minn. 



It is not the intention of this paper to discourse learnedly on 

 the inner secrets of the life history of our fish or other members 

 of the wild life coming under the observation of those generally 

 interested in game and fish from a sportsman's standpoint. The 

 writer has probably fished and hunted more than the average 

 citizen, as is the usual case of those brought up in the more prim- 

 itive environs of Northern Minnesota. However, for the past 

 three years it has been necessary for me to confine my attention to 

 commercial fisheries and make a study of them, in order to convert 

 the natural resources of Lake Superior into the more usable dollars. 



To the majority of those here assembled Duluth is not consid- 

 ered a fishing port, and of those who are aware that more or less 

 fish are shipped from Duluth, only a very few know to what mag- 

 nitude the fishing industry has grown. Indeed, our own neighbors 

 at home would scarcely believe that there are more than a dozen 

 companies competing tooth and nail for a share of the business. 

 So keen has this competition become that an altogether unique 

 sales condition has grown up among us, peculiar only to Duluth. 



Lake Superior does not produce many commercial varieties. 

 Indeed, outside of the herring and trout, there are only a few fish 

 of any importance. The sale of Menominees, Bluefms, Ciscoes 

 and Whitefish, is only a very minor and insignificant item as 

 compared with that of the Lake Superior Herring. 



Last year, in order to improve conditions in the fisheries of 

 Lake Superior, so far as Minnesota was concerned, we were very 

 ably assisted by the Game and Fish Commission, and especially by 

 our local game warden, John Green, and through his efforts very 

 authentic statistics bearing on the question were secured. It was 

 shown that there were then 350 fishermen engaged in the industry, 

 at least 320 of whom were independent operators, living on their 

 own or leased property, making the business of fishing practically 

 their only means of livelihood. Their combined outfits, including 

 nets, skiffs, etc., was estimated at upwards of $65,000.00. 



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