457 



THE FISHERIES OF ONTARIO. 



In the preceding section the natural history of the specie^* of fish which are 

 important from an economical point ot" view has been treated at- considerable^ 

 leii^itli. We must now proceed to consider their absolute and relative economic 

 importance, their relative frequency in different parts of the Province, the nature 

 and value ©f the apparatus employed in the fisheries, and the number of nien who 

 find occupation in connection therewith. 



In discnssincf the subject it is nccessar}'^ to remember that so far it is only 

 the Great Lakes which have become of great economical importance, and that the 

 po.-siliilities as important sources of a cheap food supply of the inland waters of 

 the Province have not yet attracted public attention. 



The following Tables extracted from the last Dominion Fishery Report give 

 valuable information on the points in question. 



It appears from Table I. that of 8,045 men employed in the Fisheries of the 

 Province about one-tifth are from Lake Ontario. Lake Erie comes next with 526, 

 Georgian Bay with 436, Lake Huron with 427, Mauitoulin division with 3b7 

 and Lake Superior with 119. 



It also appears that the Georgian Bay heads the list with regard to the 

 number of fathoms of gill-nets in use, Lake and River St. Clair by the seines ia 

 use, and the lower im»t of Lake Ontario by the smaller hoop-nets, while Lake.. 

 Erie is distinguished by its number of pound-nets. 



Table II. informs us of the relative value of the fisheries, tho Georgian Bay 

 being at the head of the list with .^j:-{0,4iJS, out of a total $2,009,037, Lake Erie 

 nest, ibllowed by the Manitoulin divisinn, Lake Huron, Like Superior and Lake 

 Ontario. We also Itarn from it that the Georgian Bay stands at the head of the 

 list in both Whitefish and Lake Tn>ut fisheries, that Lake Eiie on the other hand 

 comes Hr.it in the Herring, Sturgeon, Bx-s, Pickerel and cjarse-fish fisheries, that 

 Lake Scuuog is the heail(|U irturs of th'j Maskmonge fishery, that the greater pro- 

 portion of Pike come from the lliver S:. Lavvreaci, and of Eels from Wellington 

 county, including the Credit River. 



From Table III. we learn that the following is the relative economic value 

 of the various species of food-fishes, not classified as miscellaneous or coarse fish : 



1. Whitefish. 



2. Lake Trout. 



3. Lake Herring. 



4. Pickerel. 



5. Sturgeon. 



6. Bass. 



7. MaskinoDge. 



8. Pike. 



9. Eels. 



