1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. 11 



Turniug to the charts of the various lakes, it is evidently possible 

 to mark clearly thereon the area afforded by each which is available for 

 the sustenance of whiteflsh life. The result, including both Canadian 

 and United States' waters, is found to be approximately as follows: 



Area, Whitefish Area and Percentage of Whitefish Area of Each of the Great 



Lakes. 



Having plotted out these whitefish areas it will be noted that, with 

 the exception of Lake Erie, the whiteflsh areas of the individual lakes, 

 while varying considerably in breadth, more or less closely follow the 

 sinuosities of the coast line, so that between the North and South or East 

 and West boundaries, as the case may be, there intervenes a body of deep 

 water unsuited to the true whitefish. 



The evidence obtainable would appear to indicate that the whitefish 

 does not wander at random throughout the areas available to it, but 

 rather that it is local in its habits. In fact, tho^e who frequently handle 

 the fish can, as a general rule, easily' distinguish between the fish of the 

 various lakes. Twice a year, however, the whitefish leaves its habitual 

 feeding grounds for shallower waters. In the southern lakes the first 

 migration occurs about June or July (varying somewhat according to 

 the latitude in the northern lakes), and the fish returns to the deeper 

 water, as a rule, early in August. The cause of this migration has been 

 much discussed, but perhaps the most plausible theory so far advanced 

 is that this is tlie season of the year when the insect lai'VfB, on which the 

 fish delight to feed, are most abundant in the shallower waters. The 

 second migration occurs in October and November, according to lati- 

 tude, and is for the purpose of spawning, continuing I'oughly for one 

 month, during which period it is generally admitted that the fish do not 

 eat. Both migrations would appear, from investigations that have been 

 made, not to be a procession along the indentations of the shore, but 

 rather a regular forward movement from the deeper waters of the normal 

 feeding grounds into the shallower waters most convenient of access. 



The natural spawning beds of tlie whitefish, so far as ascertained, 

 consist of ledges of honeycombed and other similar rock, found in the 

 shoaler porticms of the lakes. The honeycombed rock, as the name im- 

 plies, is dotted with innumerable small holes and cavities into which the 

 eggs, as they are voided by the fish, may fall and remain comparatively 

 secure from the depredations of spawn-eating fish, and also more or less 

 free of the danger of being smothered by mud or other noxious deposits. 



The whitefish is not a nest-building fish, but is what is known as a 



