58 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



est catches are made between September 25 and November 1, wben 

 the trout are quite abundant. Whitefish are taken in considerable num- 

 bers early in May, and in fair quantities throughout the summer. The 

 catch in 1884 averaged about 250 barrels to the boat, one-half of which 

 were whitefish and the rest trout and siscowet. The next season the 

 catch was slightly better and averaged 300 packages to the boat. The 

 boats used are chiefly mackinaws, and are better built than those form- 

 erly employed. Few parties are interested in gill-netting through the 

 ice, as the ice in this region is not sufficiently safe to warrant any ex- 

 tended business. Fifteen or twenty men fish a few nets at intervals 

 during the winter, but their catch is small. 



Herring gill-net fishing is not extensive and is confined almost exclu- 

 sively to the settlement at Craig, where about fifteen boats participate 

 in it for two or three weeks in November and December. Each crew 

 usually fishes about five nets, 325 feet long and 22 meshes deep, the 

 catch averaging from 1J to 2J tons to the boat. The fish are frozen and 

 packed in straw, where they are kept to be sold in small quantities dur- 

 ing the winter months. 



Pound-net fishery. — Pound-nets, according to Mr. Joseph Bertrand, 

 were introduced into the region at Franklin River, about 1874, by Mr. 

 Stein. Since that time they have been used to a greater or less extent 

 every year, though never so numerously as at present. In 1884 there 

 were six pound-nets on the peninsula, and the next year the number 

 had increased to ten. They were set in depths varying from 12 to 40 

 feet, the majority of them being in 25 to 28 feet, and cost about $300 

 each when placed in the water. The fishing season lasts from the 

 middle of May to the middle of November. The fishermen, in addition 

 to tending the pound-nets, run at the same time a gang of twenty five 

 to thirty gill-nets. 



Seine fishery. — Seines were formerly more abundant than at present, 

 and seine fishermen were often successful in making large catches. In 

 1885 there were eleven seines in different portions of the peninsula, the 

 majority of them being used in the lower portion of Keweenaw Bay. 

 The fishing season is June and July, and the catch is about half white- 

 fish and the remainder trout and siscowet. The seines are from 247 to 

 330 feet long, and 12 to 15 feet deep. They are usually home-made, and 

 of a mesh so small that even the tiniest minnows cannot pass through. 

 They are fished chiefly by foreigners, who salt the large fish, using the 

 smaller ones for bait or throwing them back into the water. It is esti- 

 mated that, during 1885, the average seine caught about 2,500 pounds 

 offish. 



Fylcenet fishing. — A few fykes are owned by fishermen at Portage 

 Entry and fished in the mouth of the river for walleyed pike and pick- 

 erel, for several weeks each season. 



Trawling. — The foreigners coming to the region have brought with 

 them the method of trawl-line fishing employed in Europe, and about 



