SUMMARY OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISH 

 PRIVATE COMMERCIAL HATCHERIES, 1963 



Species 



Brook Trout 



Rainbow Trout 



Largemouth Bass 



Bluegills 



THE COMMERCIAL FISHERY 



During 1963 a total of 54,342,401 pounds of fish was produced from Ontario 

 waters. Value to the primary producer was $5,503,955.27. This is a reduction 

 in catch of 14.8 per cent or nine and one-half million pounds from the record 

 63,783,597 pounds landed in 1962. The decrease in production, predominately 

 in the lower priced species, in conjunction with higher production of yellow 

 pickerel, or walleye, at good prices, resulted in a 3.0 per cent increase in total 

 value over the previous year. Prices on the average were better in 1963 although 

 yellow pickerel, bullhead and sheepshead showed a decline in average price per 

 pound. 



Comparison with landings for the previous year shows Lake Erie with 

 two-thirds of the production of the province, although down 20.67c in pounds 

 of fish landed from that lake; Lake Huron dropped 17.5% and the North Channel 

 was down 31.8%. On the other hand, gains were noted in Lake Ontario, up 

 16.9%; Southern Inland waters up 34.0%; and Georgian Bay, up 59.5%. 

 Fluctuations in value were more or less parallel to catches with the exception of 

 Lake Erie and Lake Superior, where increases of 7.5% and 13.4% respectively 

 occurred. 



Comparison of production by species shows yellow perch, for the third 

 consecutive year, comprising over a third of the catch and a quarter of the value 

 of the commercial fishery in Ontario notwithstanding the 13.7 per cent decline in 

 1963 perch landings. Smelt, principally from Lake Erie trawling operations 

 decreased eight and one-half million pounds or 44.6 per cent, but continued to 

 rank second in quantity in the province. Yellow pickerel production increased by 

 one and one-third million pounds or 37.8 per cent with a six-fold increase in Lake 

 Erie and a smaller gain in Lake St. Clair. Northern Inland produced nearly half 

 of the yellow pickerel in the province but landings declined 8.8 per cent. The 

 catch of whitefish was down 7.8 per cent however, a substantial gain of 59.3 per 

 cent was noted from Georgian Bay. A 17.6 per cent drop in chubs taken resulted 

 from a reduction of half a million pounds from Lake Huron due to a sudden 

 slump in the market. In Lake Erie, a half-million pound decline in white bass 

 landings decreased provincial production by 20 per cent. Carp taken increased 

 17.6 per cent with large gains from the waters of Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay. 

 Southern Inland production of carp dropped slightly however, in spite of the 

 continued interest in the newly expanded fishery. Increased production of sunfish 

 in Lake Ontario and Southern Inland waters effected a 39.3 per cent increase 

 in provincial production. Lake trout production held steady in Northern Inland 



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