FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



TABLE 8. MICHIGAN PRODUCTS OF SHORE AND BOAT FISHERIES: 1908. 



173 



i Includes apparatus, with catch, as follows: Harpoons, spears, etc., 100,000 pounds, valued at $5,800; crowfoot dredges, etc., 200,000 pounds, valued at $800; and musk- 

 rat traps, 300 pounds, valued at $400. ! Less than $100. Less than 100 pounds. 



MINNESOTA. 



The chief fishing grounds of the state of Minnesota 

 are the Mississippi River and Lake Superior. Com- 

 mercial fishing is carried on to a considerable extent 

 also in the numerous small lakes and rivers of the 

 state, especially in the St. Croix and other tributaries 

 of the Mississippi River, and in the Lake of the Woods 

 and Rainy Lake, which are tributary to Hudson Bay. 



No vessel fishery existed in the state in 1908, and 

 the fisheries of Minnesota were entirely of the shore 

 and boat class, although four vessels were engaged in 

 transporting on the Lake Superior waters. 



The following statement presents a summary of the 

 chief statistics for the Minnesota fisheries in 1908: 



Number of persons employed 934 



Capital: 



Vessels and boats, including outfit $52, 000 



Apparatus of capture 43, 000 



Shore and accessory property and cash 33, 000 



Value of products 192, 000 



Comparison with previous canvasses. Although leg- 

 islation limiting the fishing on the interior waters to 

 hand lines and spears has caused a decided falling off 



in the products of the fisheries of this state since 1897, 

 about one-third of the value of the products of the 

 state fisheries on the Mississippi River and its tribu- 

 taries in 1908 represented the value of products from 

 the interior lakes and rivers, a fact which indicates a 

 revival of commercial fishing on these waters. Dur- 

 ing the past few years carp have multiplied to such 

 an extent in the lakes and other interior waters that 

 in certain cases the game wardens have issued to fish- 

 ermen special licenses to seine the lakes for this fish. 



The next comparative summary shows the changes 

 that have taken place in the fisheries of the Lake 

 Superior district since 1899 and in those on the 

 smaller lakes and interior rivers since 1894. In 

 the tabulation for 1908 the fisheries of the Lake 

 of the Woods and Rainy Lake have been included 

 with the Lake Superior fisheries, instead of with those 

 of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. 



A comparison of the statistics given in the summary 

 shows that there has been a steady growth in the 

 Lake Superior district, and that commercial fishing on 

 the tributaries of the Mississippi is gradually recover- 

 ing from the temporary setback caused by the passage 

 of stringent laws. 



