FISHERIES OF- THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 



107 



the shores of this county. There was formerly quite a settlement at 

 the mouth of Cedar River, with a saw-mill, store, and hotel, but at pres- 

 ent five or six families of fishermen constitute the entire population. A 

 few more fishermen live near by in a locality known as Little Cedar. 



About 8 miles below Cedar River is the hamlet of Leatham, where 

 there is a single saw-mill, which is operated only in the winter, and a 

 few families of fishermen. Another fishing hamlet is Dennis, a few 

 miles further south, which, like the others, contains only about half a 

 dozen families. There is little or no farming, and the lumber and fish- 

 ing industries divide the attention of the people. 



Character of the fisheries. — The fisheries are at present carried on 

 almost wholly with pound-nets owned by men living along the shore and 

 at the little places just enumerated. Tl^e gill-net fisheries, which were 

 formerly of equal importance, have dwindled down to a few small gangs 

 of nets fished by the pound-net men in the intervals of their other work. 

 There is only a little ice-fishing. 



Fishermen. — Most of the fishermen make their living during the winter 

 by wood-cutting. They are of different nationalities, including Scotch, 

 Irish, Poles, Germans, and Scandinavians, the two last named predom- 

 inating. There are no Indians or half-breeds among the number. 



Trade. — The principal dealer goes along the shore with a team and 

 buys both fresh and salt fish. He was the only man handling fresh fish 

 in 1884, though one of the pound-net fishermen collected a few hundred 

 dollars' worth with the steam barge Myra in September, 1885, and a few 

 fish annually are sold fresh at Menekaunee, just over the Wisconsin 

 line. 



The quantity of fish sold fresh was comparatively small. There were 

 two other smaller firms dealing in salt fish in 1884, and three in 1885, 

 though the additional one in the latter year handled only the products 

 of the fisheries of 1884 which had been held through the winter for the 

 sake of better prices. An interesting feature of the salt-fish trade of 

 1884 was the salting of a number of barrels of yellow perch, a species 

 which had hitherto invariably been sold fresh. The town of Menom- 

 inee is supplied mostly by the fishermen themselves and by peddlers, 

 the dealers giving their attention to the shipping trade. 



The following table shows the quantity of fish handled by the dealers 

 of Menominee County in 1884. It should be borne in mind that these 

 fish were not all the product of the fisheries of that year, as large quan- 

 tities had been salted and kept over from the preceding season by the 

 fishermen, according to the common custom of the region : 



How sold. 



Whitefisli. 



Trout. 



Dories. 



Sturgeon. 



Herring. 



Perch and 

 suckers. 



Total. 



Fresh 



Pounds. 

 29, 200 

 162, 500 



Pounds. 

 9,300 

 78, 750 



Pounds. 

 8,500 

 16, 250 



Pounds. 



7,000 



Pounds. 

 45, 000 

 437, 500 



Pounds. 

 1,000 

 5,000 



Pounds. 

 100, 000 



Salt 



700, 000 









Total 



191, 700 



88, 050 



24, 750 



7,000 



482, 500 



6,000 



800, 000 



