30 THE REPORT OF THE No. 31 



assistance to capture them if there was a chance. Outside of this, the fishery 

 laws are fairly well observed by the fishermen. 



There is one saw mill in his division, but no saw dust goes to the river. 



LAKE EEIE. 



Overseer' Fitzpatrick, Wheatley, reports that, owing to the late spring, 

 the fishermen were very late in getting in their nets, but they have done very 

 well, as the prices they got for their fish were good. Pickerel has been on the 

 increase for the last two or three years, while herring has been on the decrease. 

 Where they used to catch tons of herring they do not catch hundreds of 

 pounds now. The carp is getting more numerous in creeks and shallow water, 

 but the fishermen never catch them in their pound nets to any extent. He 

 thinks the gill nets ought to be done away with in his division, as it is one 

 of the best pound net places on Lake Erie, and if the gill net men are allowed 

 to get a foothold, the pound net men will have to go out of business. He 

 thinks the best way to do away with the gill nets is to put a close season on all 

 fish from the 15th November till the 1st May, for it is in the late fall and 

 early spring that they do the most damage, when the fish are spawning, and 

 if there is not something done to stop them from catching herring in the 

 spawning season, Lake Erie herring will soon be a thing of the past. He sajs 

 the pound net men in his division have invested about $65,000, and he thinks 

 they should be protected. They paid in last year about $5,000, and one gill 

 net tug that pays $100 can do more harm than all the pound nets. He has 

 been fishing on this shore for twenty years, and where formerly from 100.000 

 to 150,000 pounds were caught in three nets, 8,000 or 9,000 pounds are about 

 the amount of the catch now. 



The heavy gales the first part of October put a lot of the pound net men 

 out of business, and the catch of herring and whitefish was a light one. The 

 catch for his division was as follows : Herring, 180,454 lbs. ; whitefish, 35,051 

 lbs.; yellow pickerel, 338,770 lbs.; blue pickerel, 911,624 lbs.; sturgeon, 

 15,493 lbs. ; perch, 92.461 lbs. ; catfish, 7,777 lbs. ; coarse and mixed fish, 

 181,321 lbs., caviare, 490 lbs. 



Overseer Henderson, Pelee Island, reports that a large decrease has 

 occurred in the catch of fish in this district, the cause (which is apparent 

 from his statistical report) being that the fishing has not been so vigorously 

 prosecuted as in previous years, onlv thirteen pound nets beine fished as 

 against twenty-three in 1904: and, during the season of gill net fishing, five 

 tugs were engaged in 1904, and only four in 1905 ; also during the gill net 

 season the weather was verv stormy, and unfavorable for fishing operations. 

 Practicallv all the fish caught were exported, there being no market 

 here. The fishermen had no alternative but to sell the fish to the American 

 buyer. Any persons on the Island wanting fish were accommodated at 

 market price. 



^o abuses exist. 



The several close seasons have been strictly observed, and no instances 

 of illegal fishing came to his notice. 



Overseer Kraft, Ridgeway. reports that the fishing season was very good 

 considering 1 the time the fishermen were fishing. Some did not fish at all. 

 The fish that were caught were mostly for home market, and about one- 

 third was shipoed to Buffalo. The pound nets were pulled out before the 

 season was half over. He thinks the fish were not so plentiful this year, 

 owinsr to the wind storms down Lake Erie. 



The close season was well observed. He says he kept a close watch 

 over his territory, and saw that the law was carried out 



