FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 



109 



usually about 4 inches, and of the leaders 6 inches. All the nets have 

 short funnels about 18 feet long. The cost of a new net is about $500, 

 but the average value for all that are in use in the region would be 

 about $300 each as they stand. 



Each crew contains from 2 to men, who, in addition to their board 

 duriug the fishing season, usually receive $25 a mouth in the summer, 

 which is increased to $30 or $35 in the fall, when the profits become 

 greater. 



The season begins shortly after the ice goes out, usually about the 

 middle of May or the 1st of June. Between the 25th and 30th of July 

 the nets are usually taken out to be washed, and, if the prospects are 

 promising, are put back as soon as they have been mended aud tarred ; 

 otherwise they are kept out until some time in September, from which 

 date they remain in use until the latter part of November, when the 

 water freezes. There have been no experiments in pound-net fishing 

 under the ice. Some of the crews pull their stakes up in the fall by 

 means of a windlass mounted on a small scow ; but more frequently, 

 when there are woods near by, they are allowed to remain to be carried 

 away by the ice, and are replaced by new ones in the spring. In some 

 cases they cost $2 or $3 apiece. With rare exceptions each pound- net 

 firm has a scow pile-driver, and in two instances the latter is operated 

 by steam. 



The proportions of the species taken have varied considerably at dif- 

 ferent times in the history of the industry, though the same style of net 

 has been in use since the early stages of the business. In 1873 half of the 

 catch was whitefish and most of the remainder herring, with very few 

 trout. At that time the fishing was more profitable than at present. In 

 the spring of 1871 there were obtained from two nets 400 packages of 

 whitefish and 50 packages of other fish; and in fall of the same year 

 160 packages of whitefish, 120 packages of herring, and 30 of trout. 

 The whitefish began to decrease in abundance about 1877, and are now 

 comparatively scarce. In 1881 there were obtained from three nets 525 

 packages of Nos. 1 and 2 whitefish, 175 packages of No. 3 whitefish, and 

 250 packages of herring and trout. The whitefish are claimed to have 

 left suddenly in the summer, and this is said to have been the result 

 of the sawdust brought down in great quantities from the mills on the 

 Menominee River. 



The brief table following shows the catch of five pound-nets belong- 

 ing to a crew fishing about six miles north of Menominee in 1884 : 



Season. 



Whitefish. 



Trout. 



Herring. 



Suckers. 



Total. 



Spring 



Pounds. 

 300 

 400 



Pounds. 

 400 

 300 



Pounds. 

 30, 000 

 40, 000 



Pounds. 

 2,000 



Pounds. 

 32, 700 



ran.*: :..: 



40, 700 









Total 



700 



700 



70, 000 



2,000 



73, 400 







