408 



ORDERS OF FISHES— TROUT AND SALMON 



the Common Whitefish 1 is an undisguised 

 blessing. To them it is all that the shad is to the 

 East, or the salmon to the Pacific coast. When- 

 ever the traveller between Cleveland and Omaha 

 discovers before him a large fish of excellent 

 flavor, he may be sure that it is either a White- 

 fish or a lake trout, from one of the great lakes, 

 and worthy of profound respect. 



But for the fact that this fish is so well and so 

 widely known, many pages might be written of 

 it without exhausting the subject. Dr. Jordan 

 considers the Whitefishes the most important 

 group of fresh-water fishes of North America, 

 and probably of the world. 



1 Co-re-go' nus clu-pe-i-for'mis. 



The home of this group extends from Niagara 

 to Chicago and Duluth. The average weight of 

 a typical fish is about 4 pounds, but specimens 

 weighing 20 pounds have been taken. In 1899, 

 the catch of Whitefish (all species) amounted to 

 6,862,094 pounds, worth $345,640. In 1898 

 the catch in Canadian waters, say Jordan and 

 Evermann, amounted to about 18 million pounds, 

 worth $877,000. 



In winter, the Whitefish retires to the deepest 

 portions of the great lakes, and is beyond the 

 reach of fishermen. In the spring, it frequents 

 the shallower waters, near shore, where it spawns, 

 and lingers to fall a prey to the gill-net fishermen, 

 even until late in the autumn. 



