FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 49 



supply had not been kept up in some way, the stock must cer- 

 tainly have decreased, which is not now the case." 



A. J. Gustavus, pound-net fisherman, of Huron, puts it in this 

 light : " For every million of fry planted there are a million 

 more chances for whitefish. I think the greatest results are to 

 come, as the business is not yet old enough for us to expect 

 much benefit." 



E. D. Smith, of Marbleliead, says : " I know the fish-hatch- 

 ing to be a grand thing, for the reason that I have caught thou- 

 sands of whitefish this season not weighing over a pound to a 

 pound and a half each and formerly never caught them. I be- 

 lieve these small fish are some of those planted from the hatch- 

 eries." 



Fred Motrie of Port Clinton, says : " I fished six pounds in the 

 fall of 1883, and five in the fall of 1884. Have no record of my 

 whitefish catch for either fall, but know I caught more in 1884 

 than in 1883, perhaps 20 per cent. more. The hatcheries are un- 

 doubtedly a good thing and should be kept up. While the eggs 

 are in the jars they are out of the way of the sturgeon, suckers 

 and all the fish that live mostly by sucking up spawn ; and when 

 the young fish are turned loose they will look out for them- 

 selves." 



Felix Courchaine, also of Port Clinton, says : " I did very 

 well the past fall, in fact the fishing was the best it has been for 

 years. I caught six tons with tweny-six gill-nets. I have every 

 reason to believe that we are getting results from the plant- 

 ings from the hatcheries ; and why shouldn't we ? The fry 

 planted in this way stand an equal chance with those hatched 

 in the lakes, and as for taking care of themselves, I think 

 nature will look out for that. I should be sorry indeed to see 

 the hatching of whitefish discontinued." 



F. Perry, a practical gill-netter, of Port Clinton, says : " In 

 the fall of 1883 my catch of whitefish from nineteen nets was 

 one ton, and in the fall of 1884, from thirty-seven nets, six tons 

 — six times the catch of the year previous, with double the nets, 

 on the same grounds. I think we are getting great results from 

 the planting of young fish, for before it was commenced white- 

 fish were fast playing out. But now they are becoming more 



