November 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



RE A cannot give complete nationwide serv- 

 ice if part of the move must be by rail. 



Interior Secretary Stewart L. Udall sup- 

 ports the REA petition because the agency 

 is the only nationwide carrier handling fresh 

 fish packed in ice. It is also the only carrier 

 providing re -icing service en route. 



The petition is opposed by motor carriers 

 and the American Trucking Associations, 

 which fear traffic loss. 



1965 Great Lakes 

 Commercial Fishery 



U. S. and Canadian commercial fishermen 

 caught about 98.6 million pounds of fish in the 

 Great Lakes in 1965, according to BCF and 

 Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. 

 Landings in 8 Great Lakes states totaled 54.1 

 million pounds, or 600,000 pounds above 

 1964's record low. Ontario waters contrib- 

 uted 44.5 million pounds, up 9.5 million 

 from 1964, due largely to marked rise in 

 catch of yellow perch in Lake Erie. 



The 1965 U. S. -Canadian landings were 

 worth $10.8 million, up $1.3 million over 

 1964 and the highest since 1961. U. S. catch 

 was $5.7 million, up $300,000 from 1964; the 

 Canadian catch rose $1 million to $5.1 mil- 

 lion in 1965. 



from 5.8 million pounds in 1964 to about 1.3 

 million last year, the lowest catch for this 

 species since the 1930s. 



Lake Erie waters provided the largest 

 source of supply for Great Lakes commercial 

 fishermen. The 1965 U. S. -Canadian catch 

 totaled 48.6 million pounds. Yellow perch 

 was the leader. The catch in U, S, waters was 

 3.2 million pounds; in Canadian, 18.6 million. 

 U. S. landings of this species more than dou- 

 bled the 1964 figure but were still far below 

 most recent years. The Canadian increase 

 of more than 10 million pounds over the poor 

 1964 season returned it to the 1961-63 level. 

 A strong 1962 year class became available to 

 the Erie fishery last year; it is expected to 

 support an equal or larger 1966 production. 



For the Lake Huron-Georgian Bay area, 

 the commercial catch totaled 8.2 million 

 pounds, or about 180,000 above 1964. An in- 

 crease in U. S. production offset a moderate 

 Canadian decline. Leading species were 

 chubs, yellow perch, and whitefish; chubs ac- 

 counted for one -third of the total catch in 

 weight. 



The Lake Superior catch was 11 million 

 pounds; U. S. landings were nearly four -fifths 

 of the total. This was smallest amount since 

 early 1920s, due primarily to the drop in U. S. 

 catch of lake herring to record low of 4.7 mil- 

 lion pounds. The 1965 Canadian catch of lake 

 herring was 1.6 million pounds, also down 

 from other recent years. A brighter note was 

 provided by the U. S. catch of chubs, which 







1965 



1964 



Lake 





U. S. Waters 



Canadian Waters 



States 



Basins 



1965 1 1964 



1965 1 1964 



Xotal: 



(Thousands of Pounds) 



Total: 



fThousands of Pounds^ 1 



54,156 



53,559 



54, 156 



53,559 



44,467 



34,990 







180 



7 



19,748 



1,613 



442 



11,528 



514 



20, 124 



645 



11 



19,761 



2,079 



446 



11,230 



817 



18,570 



Ontario . 

 Erie. . . 

 St. Clair 

 Huron!/ 

 Michigan 





217 

 13,524 



4,674 



26,994 



8,748 



267 

 13,354 



4,094 



26,201 



9,642 



2,647 



35,096 



886 



3,568 



2,270 



2,015 



25,381 



946 



3,967 



2,681 











Minnesota . 

 New York . 

 Ohio .... 





Pennsylvania 









i/Canadian waters include Georgian Bay and North Channel. 1 



Lake Michigan continued to have largest 

 share of U. S. commercial catch--just under 

 50 percent. However, the alewife, a low -val- 

 ue species, comprised over half thecatch-- 

 14 million of the 27 million total. Larger 

 chubs for human consumption were a more 

 valuable gain; they totaled close to 6.5 mil- 

 lion pounds, or 3.1 million over 1964. How- 

 ever, there was a sharp drop in yellow perch. 



exceeded 2 million pounds in 1965 for the 

 first time. Most of this catch was the larger 

 size smoked for the retail market. 



