78 



FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1908. 



In addition to the whitefish product included in the 

 above statement, there were reported 2,300 pounds of 

 caviar prepared from whitefish roe, valued at $200, 

 which are included in the statistics for caviar. 



The distribution of the catch by fishing grounds was 

 as follows: 



1 Includes Lake St. Clair. 



Nearly all the whitefish product was marketed fresh, 

 but 342,000 pounds, valued at $17,000, were reported 

 salted and 15,000 pounds, valued at $1,300, were 

 smoked. The combined value of the salted and 

 smoked product formed only 3 per cent of the total 

 value of the catch. 



Although in some cases the returns specified the 

 allied varieties as Menominee, longjaw, etc., in the 

 majority of cases the catch was reported as whitefish 

 without segregation, and hence, the returns can not 

 be depended upon as showing the entire catch of 

 specific varieties. For 5,680,000 pounds of whitefish, 

 valued at $447,000, or 85 per cent of the total value, 

 the variety was specified. 



The catches of the longjaw, bluefin, and Menominee 

 whitefishes reported separately (chiefly from Michigan 

 and Wisconsin, with small quantities from Minnesota 

 and Illinois), were as follows: 



> Less than $100. 



The yield of whitefish in 1908 shows a continuation 

 of the recovery shown in 1903 from the downward 

 movement which had culminated in 1899, yet the 

 catch was little more than one-third as heavy as in 

 1880. The statistics for those years for which fig- 

 ures are available are given in the following tabular 

 statement: 



1 Not reported. 



Gill nets, pound nets, and trap nets took nearly all 

 of the catch. The proportion of the total value 

 credited to gill nets was 60 per cent and that credited 

 to pound and trap nets 39 per cent; while fyke and 

 hoop nets, seines, and lines took less than 1 per cent of 

 the total. 



