American I'isluTics Society. 23 



bcrring' and lisUil in the Micliii^an tisli statistics as herring. To 

 bear me out on these jjoints, 1 cjuote from the rei)urt of Mr. C. 

 H. Moore, statistical agent of the Michigan l''isli Connnission, 

 who furnishes numerous letters from tishermen and other data 

 to substantiate his statements. Mr. Moore says: "(Jf the 1,717,- 

 220 pounds of whitetish caught in this district (Xo. 5) in 1895, 

 470,000 pounds (2y%) were innnatm-e fish and every ground in 

 this district fished with pound nets furnished a portion of this 

 amount of small whitefish in greater or less quantities, but more 

 notably so at Maniuette and Detour, where liberal plants of white- 

 fish have been made during the past five \ears. In this district 

 as well as in the others, the use of the pound net is the chief 

 device in the destruction of the young whitefish." 



"At all the above stations small whitefish are taken, and the 

 fishermen in reporting their annual catches, ])ut them under the 

 guise of herring. 



'"The catch of inunature fish and the wasteful manner of fish- 

 ing practiced by the fishermen throughout Michigan's entire 

 coast, especially where pound nets are fished, is a matter of great 

 concern, and is doing more than any one thing to deplete the 

 Great Lakes of whitefish and must ultimately ruin the fisheries of 

 the State.'' In contradistinction to this state of affairs in iMichi- 

 gan waters, I find but one or two iustances in the reports of the 

 fisherv overseers of the Canadian fisheries wdiere mention is made 

 of immature whitefish being taken in Ontario waters, in which, as 

 I have shown, only a limited number of pound nets are used. 



If the young whitefish caught in Michigan waters and listed 

 in Alichigan statistics as herring were properly listed in those 

 statistics, ■Michigan's apparent annual catch of whitefish would 

 be considerably increased. 



It is evident, then, that the whitefish caught in Canadian 

 waters are. by virtue of good laws, well enforced, larger and 

 average a greater weight per fish than those caught in Michigan 

 waters: and it follows that for the same number of pounds of 

 whitefish in the aggregate. ^lichigan waters produce many more 

 whitefish than are ]-)roduced in the same waters in Ontario. It 

 should be noted here, too, that Michigan's annual catch of white- 

 fish from the waters under consideration is larger in the aggre- 

 gate of pounds than the catch from Ontario waters, although 

 Michigan has less coast line on those w'aters than Ontario. 



Thus, on the whole, we get a showing very favorable to ^lichi- 

 gan waters with fishing the year round as against Ontario with a 

 close season of twenty-five years' standing. I firmly believe that 



