1^2 Modern Fishculture in Fresh and Salt Water. 

 CHAPTER XIX. 



THE WHITEFISH AND.ITS CULTURE. 



By Herschel Whitaker. 



The whitefish is one of the most valuable commercial 

 fishes found in the fresh waters of this country. It is 

 highly esteemed for its fine flavor and always commands 

 a high price in the market. Like the other members of 

 the Salmonidcc, it responds kindly to methods of artifi- 

 cial propagation, and its culture is uniformly attended 

 with the best results. 



Its spawning season varies somewhat, but the month 

 of November may be said to cover the principal part of 

 its spawning period. Beginning with the month of Oc- 

 tober the fish gather on the gravelly and stony reefs and 

 shoals of the lakes, both in and off shore, and hover on 

 about these places until the spawning season has closed, 

 when they retire to the deeper waters. 



The females are quite prolific, the larger ones casting 

 anywhere from 30,000 to 70,000 eggs in a season, the 

 average in a catch of from 10,000 to 15,000 being from 

 25,000 to 35,000 to the female. 



Two methods are followed in taking the eggs for 

 artificial propagation. The method most generally pur- 

 sued, because of the natural conditions surrounding the 

 fisheries, is to take the eggs from the fish as they are 

 taken from the gill and pound nets when they are lifted. - 

 This method is somewhat uncertain as to result, and 

 usually the eggs taken in this manner give a lower per- 

 centage of fertilization than those handled by the 



