FISHERIES OF THE GKEAT LAKES IN 1885. 95 



wall-eyed pike, 181 packages of herring, and 330 packages of other fish. 

 The total value of these products, including 291 sounds, and 2,000 

 pounds of caviare obtained from the sturgeon, was $34,048. 



Pound-net fishery. — About half of the pound-nets in the bay are set 

 on the west side, most of them in the immediate vicinity of Long Point. 

 The greater part of them are owned by fishermen who live at their fish- 

 houses near by during the fishing season, but return when it is over to 

 their winter homes at Little Sturgeon, Michigan, and Menekaunee, 

 Wisconsin. 



Another group of nets, including about a quarter of the whole num- 

 ber, occurs at the head of the bay between Ogontz Bay and Fish Dam 

 River, and the remainder are scattered along the eastern shore and 

 among the islands near the entrance of the bay. Thirteen of the pound- 

 nets are owned at Garden, Fairport, and Sack Bay, seven at Snake 

 Island and Bound Island, eleven by the firms fishing from Nahma and 

 Ogontz, and thirteen at Long Point, where they have been fished since 

 1861. 



The pound-nets used have a mesh of 2£ to 4 inches in the pot, and an 

 average length of 1,320 feet. They are set in water from 20 to 68 feet 

 deep, averaging about 45 feet. They are worth from $350 to $800, aver- 

 aging $475. The boats usually range iu value from $25 to $100. The 

 catch of the Long Point fishery consists mostly of whitefish. The fish 

 sold fresh from that place include only about 5 per cent, trout, 3 per 

 cent, sturgeon, and a little less than 3 per cent, dories or wall- eyed pike. 

 In 1885 the proportion of trout was unusually large, and would amount 

 to 6 or 7 per cent. In the nets fished from Garden the proportions in 

 1884 were 55 per cent, sturgeon, 25 per cent, wall-eyed pike, 10 per cent, 

 whitefish, and 15 per cent, perch. 



Nearly every crew is provided with a pile-driver worth about $25, and 

 occasionally an additional scow with a stake puller is owned. Several 

 vessels are used in connection with the pound-net fishing. At Fairport 

 the steamer Oliver C. Williams, 57.78 tons, and schooner Mary A. Greg- 

 ory, 83.13 tons, are employed in tending the pound-nets as well as in 

 purchasing fish. During most of the season the schooner Merchant, 

 62.72 tons, is used for running to and from the nets, the fishermen 

 living on her. The fishing begins at the head of the bay about the mid- 

 dle of May, and at Long Point the first of June. The fishing at Long 

 Point is usually suspended during July and August. 



The catch is far from being so large as in former years. It is claimed 

 that about twenty -three years ago as many as 300 half-barrels of fish 

 were sometimes taken from two pound -nets at one lift. In 1884 the 

 total yield from thirty of the pounds, for which an accurate record was 

 kept, amounted to $14,809, of which about three-fourths was for fresh 

 fish. 



Gill-net fishery.— No gill-nets are used in the Bay de Noquet, ex- 

 cept in the little settlement included in the Fayette post-office. Sack 



