American Fisheries Society. 73 
the personality of our agent, Mr. Moore, who is unusually pains- 
taking and thorough in every detail of his work, we believe that 
the results obtained are thoroughly reliable, in fact that these 
statistics are as accurate as it is practical to make them. Realiz- 
ing that the subject is a pretty dry one, and in order to relieve 
the monotony somewhat as well as to emphasize comparisons, I 
have made use of a number of line charts, as I call them. 
These tables and charts, then, represent the fisheries data of 
the Michigan waters of the Great Lakes from 1881 to 1904 in- 
clusive, 1904 being the last year for which we have complete re- 
turns, all taken by the same man and without any change what- 
ever in classification. 
The figures in detail for whitefish are as follows: 
(At the suggestion of Mr. Bower the line charts referred to 
are omitted from the report, but the detailed figures are given in 
full.) 
WHITEFISH. 
Year Total Catch, Pounds Total Value 
HSS Oplieteer Re ty canes Steve aoe cosksaes o Gaeta carers 8,110,000 $351,196.00 
AES OD Rae Seer cave ade aera tie rakemcuesieren ne ataan oe oncirs 6,347,000 258,011.00 
TMS Ye Gi. custo Cat heey ASOT ATR Sty ch GNC MISTER. ae 5,345,000 231,189.00 
HO Acer nce atic ntmyt Keel ce Cate ire rehed lone ths. Suet 8 4,470,000 163,813.00 
TMG BYE stat Gretna Riera a ce Reece rane eee OR 3,353,000 30,811.00 
MIRO Oh ptraers ee Fro ek konerec cis onsaeGioe ue ones 3,783,000 141,750.00 
MES Oar A Mn Aa cites aeatieeak oi lane cuaes nee ena 4,639,000 186,777.00 
1S Src toorcee her ook were Pa Eint. CR RCRD eRe 4,102,000 170,245.00 
SO Os Sesae aie oats pe Sak eoh STATA Me LS oheut Se nhie 3,640,000 188,586.00 
HL () Ee gee gente Septet tscauaetes seche to Gorfatoyet mess 3,460,000 185,010.00 
ALD ile epepercsore i eee yainre series are hoe a craborels 4,173,000 236,909.00 
HED Drechea araetans raree vat to deiac once cous sherey Sst paver ees 5,371,000 307,860.00 
UD Seema eee other eto elect: 4,508,000 276,638.00 
TESKO) eee ees oie riesecneire oak ner Oe Or mca 4,197,000 270,262.09 
The first table represents the catch and value of whitefish. 
All comparisons are made with the year 1891, which I take as 
my basis of comparison. 
In the year 1891 the total catch of whitefish was 8,110,000 
pounds—this refers only to Michigan waters of the Great Lakes 
of a total value of $351,196. 
That is the high year. 

The catch 
has not been as great as that in any year since. It fell off rapidly 
until 1895, which is the low year, not only in the catch, but in 
