GILL NET FISHERY OF GREAT LAKES. 763 



The Huron or "square-stern" boat is employed principally in Lake Michigan. A few are also 

 to be found at the east end of Lake Ontario. "It is the ordinary model of a schooner-rigged sail- 

 boat, with less sheer than the Mackinaw, but with plenty of room for net, fish, or half barrels. 

 The better models are faster than than the Mackinaws. They are generally from 30 to 40 feet in 

 length. In most of the regions where they are employed the fishing is done much farther from 

 shore than in the 'light-rig' localities. An inquiry into the history of the loss of life and acci- 

 dents among the fishermen of Lake Michigan indicates that these boats had suffered the most, 

 partly, no doubt, because of their longer runs out from shore."* 



The Huron is used in preference to the Mackinaw" when it is desirable to carry a heavy load, 

 the sharp stern of the latter not affording sufficient space for storage. 



The Hay ward boat, named after the maker, is a schooner-rigged craft, usually capable of car- 

 rying a five ton load. Its average length is 32 feet, and its breadth of beam 8 or 9 feet. They are 

 used principally on the east shore of Lake Michigan. A number were formerly owned at Thunder 

 Bay, Lake Huron, but they have been superseded, with one exception, by Mackinaw boats. 



The Carver boat, used exclusively at the east end of Lake Erie, is similar to the last described 

 in shape and rig. They are from 24 to 30 feet in length, with from 6 to 9 feet breadth of beam. 

 They carry two masts, and are schooner-rigged, generally with gaff top-sail, and some with jibs. 

 The latter, however, are going out of use. The boats are worth from $200 to $225. 



The Wheeler boat, used only in the vicinity of the head of Lake Huron, does not differ mate- 

 rially from the last two, except that it is clinker-built. It is usually larger and more valuable 

 than the Carver, being generally 32 feet in length and costing $375. 



" The Norwegian is a huge unwieldy thing, with flaring bows, great sheer, high sides, and is 

 sloop-rigged. She is absolutely dry in all weathers, and though perfectly safe, and with ample 

 room, is only used by the Scandinavian fishermen, most other fishermen objecting to her slow- 

 ness and the great labor of rowing in time of a calm. These boats are in use in but very few 

 localities. They are from 35 to 40 feet in length."* They carry about 200 yards of canvas. Some 

 owners, perhaps rather rashly, claim that they are the fastest as well as the dryest boats. They 

 assert that they can easily pass the lake schooners. They are worth about $300. Grand Haven 

 is the principal place where they are employed. One was used at Racine, Lake Michigan, in 1878, 

 but none in 1879. 



NETS. The gill-net of the lakes is usually about 40 to 45 fathoms in length, and from 13 to 18 

 meshes deep, the size of the mesh being from 4 to 5J inches, stretch measurement. The average 

 length is exceeded in some localities, however, being 65 fathoms at Bayfield, Lake Superior; about 

 75 fathoms in certain stations at the east end of Lake Erie; 90 fathoms at Two Rivers, Lake Michi- 

 gan, and 100 fathoms in the Beaver Island region. At Saint Joseph and South Haven, the length 

 is usually but 30 fathoms. Nets carried by the tugs are generally longer than those set from boats. 



At many of the Lake Superior fisheries the nets are counted by the " box," each box contain- 

 ing from 450 to 500 yards in one piece. At certain fishing stations on Lake Michigan also the 

 box is taken as the unit of measure, but the number of nets in a box varies somewhat with the 

 locality. 



The size of the mesh does not vary very much in the upper lakes, where the catch consists 

 almost entirely of whitefish and trout, and the extremes of size employed there are about 3J and 

 G inches. In most localities different sizes are employed at different seasons the smaller in the 

 spring and summer, the larger in fall. In Lake Erie the mesh of the whitefish nets varies from 



* MILNKR : Report U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Pt. II, 1874 ; Appendix A, p. 14. 



