FISHERIES, BY STATES. 



219 



value of the above-named species lake herring, carp, 

 pike, pike perch, and pickerel forms 76 per cent of 

 the total value of the catch, 'while the remainder of 

 the catch, considered in respect to both weight and 

 value, is fairly well distributed among the other 

 species reported. 



Products, by fishing grounds. Table 2, on page 220, 

 gives detailed statistics regarding the fishery products 

 of Lake Erie district, while Table 3, on page 221, gives 

 similar statistics for the Ohio River district. Among 

 the Ohio River products were three which were not re- 

 ported for the Lake Erie fisheries, namely, buffalo fish, 

 paddlefish, and the products of the mussel fisheries. 

 The mussel products included mussel shells, pearls, and 

 slugs, and were valued at $7,000, or somewhat less 

 than half of the total value of the Ohio River product. 



Products, by class of fisheries. The products of the 

 shore and boat fisheries amounted to 20,511,000 

 pounds, valued at $548,000, and those of the vessel 

 fisheries to 8,405,000 pounds, valued at $291,000. 

 All of the fisheries of the Ohio River district were of 

 the shore and boat class, while for Lake Erie both 

 classes of fisheries were reported. In the vessel fish- 

 eries of the latter district the following products were 

 taken: 



i Includes products as follows: Suckers, 35,000 pounds, valued at $500; German 

 carp, 9,800 pounds, valued at $200; drum or sheepshead 10,000 pounds, valued at 

 $200; ling or eelpout, white bass, and trout, 7,000 pounds, valued at $100. 



Products, by apparatus of capture. Gill nets were 

 not used in the Ohio River fisheries, but in the vessel 

 fisheries of Lake Erie they were the only form of appa- 

 ratus of capture employed. Pound and trap nets, 

 though used only in the shore and boat fisheries of 

 Lake Erie, took a greater number of species and a 

 heavier catch than any other kind of apparatus. No 

 single species of the 19 which were taken by them 

 sufficiently predominated in weight to form the bulk 

 of the catch; but the different varieties of pike, 

 pickerel, and pike perch taken by pound and trap nets 

 aggregated 5,763,000 pounds, valued at $202,000, and 

 formed over one-half of the weight and about two- 

 thirds of the value of the entire catch by this form of 

 apparatus. 



Seines, which were reported for the shore and boat 

 fisheries only, were used in the capture of 13 species. 

 The quantity of products thus taken in the Ohio 



River district was small, amounting to only 20,000 

 pounds, valued at $1,600, while in the shore and boat 

 fisheries of Lake Erie products so caught aggregated 

 5,761,000 pounds, valued at $103,000. Of these Lake 

 Erie products, 5,708,000 pounds represented German 

 carp and contributed 99 per cent of the total value of 

 the seine catch reported for tlvis district. 



Since mussel shells were the principal product of 

 the Ohio River fisheries, the crowfoot dredges used 

 for taking them were the leading apparatus of capture 

 in that district. 



Principal species. Carp was the only one of the 

 leading species for which a considerable increase in 

 catch was shown in 1908, as compared with earlier 

 years. The following tabular statement indicates the 

 relation of the carp catch to the total fishery products 

 of the Lake Erie district of Ohio for certain years : 



The lake-herring catch, though larger than in 1903, 

 retains only a fraction of its earlier importance, as is 

 shown by the following tabular statement, and the 

 decrease in this product accounts, in a large measure, 

 for the decrease in the fishery product of Ohio from 

 1890 to 1903: 



The catch of blue pike in 1908 shows a pronounced 

 increase in both quantity and value over those of the 

 preceding two years for which statistics were com- 

 piled, as is indicated by the following tabular state- 

 ment: 



