FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 145 



occupied themselves in the making of netting for pouud-nets. Twenty- 

 three thousaud pounds of twine were knitted during the season. In 

 1884-'85 only 5,000 pounds were utilized. The price received for the 

 kuittiug is 9 cents a pouud for 8-incli mesh, 10 cents for 5-inch mesh, 

 and 11 cents for 4-inch mesli. The workers usually made from 30 to 60 

 cents per clay. 



Statistics. — The total number of persons employed in the fisheries of 

 Manitowoc County in 1885 was 70, 3 of whom were shoresmen. Twenty- 

 one gill net boats, 12 pound-net boats, 9 pile-drivers, and 1 other small 

 boat were used in fishing; also 1,838 gill- nets, 20 pound-nets, 2 

 seiues, 3 fyke-nets, 80,000 feet of set-line, and 1 cast-net. The value of 

 floating property was $2,850, apparatus of capture $20,400, shore prop- 

 erty $2,830, accessories $900, and cash capital $2,000. The products 

 consisted of 29,200 pounds of fresh whitefish, 2,000 pounds of salt 

 whitefish, 240,000 pounds of fresh troutj 42,700 pounds of salt trout, 

 1,400 pounds of fresh pike, 2,800 pounds of fresh sturgeon, 5,125 pounds 

 of fresh herring, 500 pounds of salt herring, and 3,300 pounds of fresh 

 perch and other fish, the whole having a value of $13,200. 



Pound-net fishery. — The first attempt at pound-net fishing within 

 the limits of Manitowoc County was made in 1861. The original net 

 was of the old-fashoned type, without a tunnel, and the results were 

 so discouraging that it was soon taken up. In the following year 

 two pound-nets were brought from Green Bay and set in Manitowoc 

 Bay near Two Rivers. This experiment was so successful that at 

 times three boat-loads of fish were taken out daily without emptying 

 the nets. In 1862 other parties set two additional pound-nets in the 

 saine vicinity. The fishery grew rapidly, until in 1865 there were more 

 than thirty-five nets on the shores of the county, and this number was 

 maintained until 1869 or 1870. Still later there was a further increase, 

 and the business reached its height in 1881, when there were between 

 fifty and sixty pounds. 



There were in 1885 eight crews of pound-net fishermen in the county, 

 each containing two men and fishing two or three nets set in a single 

 string. One crew was at Manitowoc, one at Hika, and the others at 

 Two Rivers. In 1884 there were two crews with five nets at Manito- 

 woc. 



The nets used vary from 26 to 48 feet in depth, averaging 38 feet. The 

 leader is usually 1,135 to 1,320 feet in length, though sometimes less 

 thau 600 feet, and has a mesh of 7 to 9 inches. The hearts have a 6- 

 iuch and the pots a 3-inch mesh ; the funnel is about 14 feet long. In the 

 construction of a pound of fair size there are required about 500 pounds 

 of twine, costing 25 cents a pouud, 45 stakes, worth $100, $40 worth of 

 hanging lines, and 2 barrels of tar, valued at $5 per barrel. The labor 

 of knitting the nets costs 12 to 15 cents per pound, and the stringing 

 costs $30. 



H. Mis. 133 10 



