766 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
extensive and important. The seines used here are large and are hauled ashore by means of 
horse-power, so that a large amount of capital is necessary to carry on the fishery. Seining, how- 
ever, is also prosecuted to a greater or less extent at; Marquette, Mich.; Whitefish Point, Lake 
Superior; Escanaba and Oconto, Green Bay; Milwaukee, Racine, and at several points at the 
east end of Lake Ontario. 
As has been intimated, the seines used in the Detroit River are large, averaging not Jess than 
60 fathoms in length and 30 feet in depth, with a mesh varying from 13 to 2 inches. In most of 
the other localities mentioned the seines are small affairs, worth usually not more than $20, and 
but few fish are taken in them. The ones in use at Escanaba, however, are about 70 rods in length, 
and are valued at $200 each. At Racine the seines are 100 fathoms long, the mesh being about 3 
inches. About Port Ontario, at the east end of Lake Ontario, there are several seines in use, 
which are 200 rods long, and from 5 to 7 feet deep, the mesh varying from 3 to 34 inches in dif- 
ferent parts of the same net. All the seines are set from land, and, so far as could be ascertained, 
except at Detroit River, are drawn in by hand. The larger ones which are managed in this manner 
require at least eight men. 
The principal season in which seine-fishing is carried on is the early summer, usually from 
June to the middle of July. In some localities, however, the seines are used both at this time and 
also in the fall. 
As might be expected, a great variety of fish is taken in these seines, different fish being 
more or less abundant in different localities. The principal marketable species which are taken 
at Escanaba are pike, sturgeon, herring, and bass. In the Detroit River the catch consists 
mainly of whitefish and pike, known in this locality as “yellow pickerel.” Large runs of herring 
appear frequently in the spring before the arrival of the whitefish, and some of the managers use 
seines with small meshes for taking quantities of this fish. At Port Ontario the catch is almost 
entirely of whitefish; a few sturgeon, suckers, and mullet, together with other varieties of minor 
value, are also taken. 
There are no peculiarities in the manner of working the seines which it is necessary to men- 
tion, except, perhaps, some which obtain in the Detroit River. The seine-fishery is by far the most 
important branch prosecuted in the river, and the seines, with the exception of a few fykes and 
“baby-pounds,” are the only form of apparatus employed. At each of the fishing stations is es- 
tablished a building for the accommodation of the men engaged in fishing and also for the storage 
of the fish, and near-by is a pen in which the fish may be kept until such time as they may be sent 
to market. These pens are constructed of planks and vary in size from a few feet to several acres. 
The boats employed in connection with this fishery are simple row-boats, 25 or 30 feet long, carrying 
eight men. In hauling in the seine two windlasses, moved by horses, are employed, to each of 
which is attached one end of the leading-line of the seine. The net and the windlass are so dis- 
posed that when the former is hauled in it reaches a spot near the opening of the pen, and the fish 
are very-easily transferred from it to the pound in which they are to be kept. Usually about six- 
teen hauls are made in each twenty-four hours, two gangs of men being employed. 
No peculiarities exist in the method of preparing seine-fish for market, except, perhaps, that a 
large proportion of them are sold fresh. They do not, as a rule, bring a higher price than fish 
taken by other means. 
