140 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Gill-net fishery. — The total number of gill-net crews in this section 

 in 1885 was thirteen. Jacksonport had four, the largest number j the 

 others were distributed among the settlements of Newport, North 

 Bay, Little Harbor, Bailey's Harbor, Whiteflsh Bay, and Lily Bay, 

 three of which had one crew each, and three two crews each. The 

 nets used by these fishermen are of ordinary length, generally between 

 35 and 45 fathoms, but there is a great difference in the depth. Most 

 of them are ouly 14 or 16 meshes deep, but at Lily Bay several are used 

 with a depth of 40 meshes, At Whiteflsh Bay the depth of the nets 

 was from 1G to 19 meshes iu 1884, and from 19 to 24 meshes in 1885. 

 The size of mesh varies from 4 J to 6 inches. There are a few herring 

 nets at Lily Bay ; these have a mesh of from 2 to 3 inches, and are 

 70 meshes deep. The nets are generally rigged with corks and leads. 

 The fishing is carried on throughout most of the year, except during 

 the winter, when the water is filled with floating ice. At Jacksonport 

 the season is from April 15 to June 20, and from October 1 till about 

 December 10. A majority of the fishermen operate their own apparatus 

 in partnership, but at Jacksonport and Whiteflsh Bay the owner of th< 

 outfit hires his help at from $20 to $30 per month. The gill-net catcl 

 at Bailey's Harbor and places further north is about two-thirds white- 

 fish and one-third trout, but at Jacksonport the proportion is 90 pei 

 cent, trout, and only 10 per cent, whiteflsh. 



In 1885 there were twenty-five men gill-net fishing, besides three 

 pound-net fishermen who used gill-nets, The number of nets was 867, 

 valued at $4,335. The boats were worth $950, the shore-houses $6G0, 

 and the accessories $214. The products amounted to 140,900 pounds, 

 worth $4,381, of which 53,450 pounds of trout and 7,950 pounds of white- 

 fish, worth $1,400, were sold fresh, and 61,700 pounds of trout, 26,60( 

 pounds of whiteflsh, and 1,200 pounds of herring, worth $2,781, wen 

 salted. 



Pound-net fishery. — In 1859 the first pound-nets were brought to 

 Whiteflsh Bay, where an important fishery with this kind of apparatus 

 was carried on from that date until 1884. In the latter year three nets 

 yielded 400 packages of fish, which were salted and sold in Chicago 

 and Sturgeon Bay. In the following year, on account of the very great 

 scarcity of fish, these nets were not fished. One net was set near the 

 bay in 1885, but the catch was very small. The decrease in the abun- 

 dance of fish commenced immediately after 1875, when the fish were so 

 plentiful that 1,400 packages were taken from five pound-nets between 

 July 15 and August 19. 



The pound-net was introduced into several other places in the vicinity 

 in the same year that it made its appearance in Whiteflsh Bay. 

 Bailey's Harbor had one net in 1859 or 1860, and five in 1862, which 

 was the largest number ever used there. In 1884 and 1885 two nets 

 were fished in the bay ; these were furnished by a firm at Thayerport, 

 that also provided barrels and salt, and paid the fishermen $1 a package 



