STATISTICS OF THE FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES, 
GENERAL NOTES AND STATISTICS. 
The number of persons engaged in the commercial fisheries of the 
Great Lakes in 1899 was 9,670. By far the greater proportion of 
these (6,657) were engaged in the shore or boat fisheries. There were 
employed on vessels fishing 1,156; on vessels transporting, 92; the re- 
mainder, 1,765, being shoresmen. The lakes whose fisheries employed 
the greatest numbers were Erie and Michigan, there being 3,728 
engaged in the former and 3,255 in the latter. The numbers employed 
in the fisheries of other lakes were as follows: Huron, 1,241; Superior, 
613; St. Clair, 442; Ontario, 391. Since the last general canvass of 
the fisheries of the Great Lakes, in 1898, there has been a decrease of 
510 in the number of persons employed, the principal decrease in this 
respect being in Lake Michigan. 
The amount of capital invested in the fisheries of these lakes was 
$6,617,716. The investment in Lake Michigan was $2,915,241; in 
Lake Erie, $2,720,554; in Lake Huron, $474,953; in Lake Superior, 
$372,083; in Lake Ontario, $80,350; and in Lake St. Clair, $54,535. 
As compared with 1893 the capital invested has increased $718,446. 
There has been an increase in the investment in Lake Michigan of 
$851,744; in Lake Erie, $213,712; and in Lake Ontario, $24,219. The 
investment in the fisheries of the other lakes has decreased as follows: 
Lake Superior, $156,941; Huron, $28,747; St. Clair, $185,541. 
The number of fishing and transporting vessels employed was 208, 
having a value, exclusive of outfits, of $659,650. These were employed 
chiefly in the fisheries of lakes Michigan and Erie, and in nearly equal 
numbers in each. The boats in the shore fisheries numbered 3,281, 
valued at $227,766. The principal apparatus of capture used on vessels 
and boats was gill nets, valued at $690,518, the next most important 
forms of apparatus being pound and trap nets, valued at $660,408. 
The value of shore and accessory property in the fisheries and fishery 
industries was $2,225,503, and the cash capital amounted to $1,933,600. 
The products of the fisheries aggregated 113,727,240 pounds, valued 
at $2,611,439. Lake Erie produced 58,393,864 pounds, valued at 
$1,150,895; Lake Michigan, 34,499,996 pounds, valued at $876,743; 
Huron, 12,418,327 pounds, valued at $308,078; Superior, 5,429,654 
pounds, valued at $150,862; Ontario, and the St. Lawrence and Niagara 
rivers, 2,406,332 pounds, valued at $100,997; and St. Clair, and the 
St. Clair and Detroit rivers, 579,067 pounds, valued at $23,864. 
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