ARE WE MAINTAINING THE SUPPLY OF WHITEFISH 

 IN LAKE ERIE? 



By S. W. Downing, 

 Put-In-Bay, Ohio. 



I was asked to write a short article on whitefish, and it 

 was suggested that particular mention be made as to wheth- 

 er or not our work of propagating this most excellent food 

 fish is resulting in maintaining them in as great numbers in 

 Lake Erie as they were previous to the time the work was 

 undertaken. 



At first thought this appears to be a very easy subject to 

 write upon, but in preparing these few thoughts, I find it to 

 be rather difficult to bring out the ideas and make them com- 

 prehensive. However, we will begin with the assertion that 

 we are not only maintaining the original number, but that we 

 are materially increasing it, and this in spite of the great ac- 

 tivities of the commercial fishermen who are taking them in 

 the largest numbers possible to supply the demand for them 

 as food fish. 



Beginning as far back as the first year that the federal 

 hatchery at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, was put in operation in 1890, 

 and continuing from that date up to the year 1899, the 

 annual collection of whitefish eggs from the same fields oper- 

 ated since that time, ranged from eighty to two hundred 

 millions. (This record is not complete but from the data at 

 hand we believe this number to be fairly accurate.) 



The fields from which the egors were collected are as 

 follows: Monroe, Mich., and in Ohio, Toledo, Port Clinton, 

 Catawaba Island, Kelley's Island, Middle and North Bass 

 Islands and Put-in-Bay Island, so called. 



The collection of whitefish eggs from these fields during 

 the twelve years from 1900 to 1911 inclusive, yielded a 

 total of 2,658,486,000 eggs, or a total average of 223,498,000 

 each year. During the next six years, from 1912 to 1917 

 inclusive, they produced a total of 2,567,690,000 eggs, or an 

 average of 427,948,000, eggs, which shows an average 

 annual increase over the preceeding twelve years of 204,450, 

 000 or nearly double the number produced each of the first 

 twelve years. 



During the last five years, from 1918 to 1922 inclusive, 

 the Ohio State Fish Commission operated the Kelley's Island 

 field and a part of the Put-in-Bay field and the U. S. Bureau 



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