134 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



North of Sister Bay there are rather extensive hand-liue fisheries in 

 winter ; in the vicinity of Fish Creek there is also some trout-spearing 

 through the ice, and at several places along the shore a few set-lines 

 and fyke-nets are in use. 



Decreased abundance offish. — According to the principal fisherman of 

 Fish Creek, the quantity of fish has decreased 75 per cent, during the 

 last fifteen years along the whole east side of Green Bay. He attributes 

 the continued success of the fisheries in his town to the increased effi- 

 ciency of the gill-nets, resulting from greater depth and finer mesh, and 

 the adoption of corks and leads instead of floats and stones. 



Disposition of the catch. — Between the years 1850 and 1873 there was 

 a firm on Washington Island buying fish for shipment, and from 1859 

 to 1880 there was also a dealer at Fish Creek, but on account of the de- 

 cline in the fisheries both abandoned the business. In 1885 there were 

 no regular buyers of fish located along this shore. A few fish are 

 bought and shipped occasionally by two or three parties at Fish Creek, 

 but most of the catch is either sold locally, shipped directly by the 

 fishermen, or sold to dealers at Menominee, Sturgeon Bay, and Green 

 Bay City. 



Statistics. — In 1885 there were 148 men employed in the fisheries of 

 this region ; the invested capital amounted to $22,429, consisting of 

 $8,015 in the pound-net fishery, $13,192 in the gill-net fishery, $485 in 

 the winter hand -line and spear fisheries, and $237 in other fisheries, 

 with $500 cash capital. The products amounted to 459,500 pounds, 

 valued at $18,058, of which 264,3G5 pounds, worth $11,360, were 

 whitefish, 131,360 pounds, worth $5,410, were trout, and 63,775 pounds, 

 worth $1,888, were of other species. Out of the entire quantity, 78,915 

 pounds of whitefish, worth $3,956, 15,590 pounds of trout, worth $779, 

 and 19,200 pounds of herring, worth $576, were salted ; all the rest 

 were sold fresh. The whitefish taken in the years 1884 and 1885 were 

 much larger than those of preceding years, their average weight being 

 nearly 5 pounds. This was attributed to the larger mesh of the nets, 

 and also to the fact that large catches were obtained from grounds 

 where nothing could be caught with a smaller mesh. 



Pound-net fishery. — The only pound-nets used in 1885 were four 

 just north of Fish Creek, four on Chambers Island, one at Horseshoe 

 Bay, six at Thayerport, and two at Little Harbor. Formerly this fish- 

 ery was much more important, especially at Chambers Island. The 

 first pound-net was introduced there in 1869, and the number gradually 

 increased from two in that year to fifteen in 1874-'75. The Chambers 

 Island fishery then declined, and in 1880 there were only one or two 

 pounds. The next year, however, three or four nets were set there and 

 did well ; the number increased in 1884 and 1885 to six, that is, if two 

 nets be included which were fished on the island part of the season and 

 were then removed to Ephraim Bay near Fish Creek. 



The nets used between Ephraim Bay and Little Harbor vary consid- 

 erably in dimensions. Those near Fish Creek have leaders of from 247 



