At the request of our Department, the Canada Department o£ Fisheries Is 

 developing new trawling gear for the economical harvesting of smelt. It Is the 

 responsibility of our staff to assess the effectiveness of the new gear. Our 

 staff spent considerable effort on this assessment during 1960, with particular 

 attention to effectiveness In different smelt concentrations and possible adverse 

 side effects on other species. It was found that when the trawl Is fished In 

 heavy smelt concentrations, Its catches are highly successful and there Is no 

 danger to other species. , v,. 



Little progress was made In the study of blue pickerel because 1960 again 

 failed to produce a successful year class. Netting for spawning fish and dredging 

 for eggs yielded no significant samples. This work will have to be abandoned, at 

 least until a successful year class appears. 



Preliminary studies of perch mortalities and growth showed that the gill 

 net mesh sizes currently In use were too large to efficiently capture the perch 

 present In the lake. 



Lake Ontario I 



A much needed research vessel, of proper size and fittings, was acquired 

 for the Lake Ontario research unit. The first job on which this vessel was used 

 was a three week cruise In the vicinity of Main Duck Island In search of mature 

 lake trout that might have resulted from the co'^operatlve Ontario - New York State 

 lake trout stocking program. Although It was disappointing to find none, there was 

 satisfaction that a thorough search had been made. 



The girth- length relationship of whlteflsh from Lake Ontario was found 

 to be the same as that for South Bay whlteflsh, so the glllnet selection curve 

 derived at South Bay was applied to observations of the Lake Ontario commercial 

 catch. It was apparent that there have been some substantial changes In the 

 fishery during the past few years and that at present the gear used Is not par- 

 ticularly efficient for catching the available whlteflsh. Recommendations have 

 been made to the Fish and Wildlife Branch. 



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