146 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The pounds are put into the water between the 15th of May and the 

 10th of June, are fished through the summer without intermission, and 

 are taken out between the 10th of September and the middle of October. 



About seven-tenths of the fish caught are trout, nearly one-fifth 

 whitefish, and the remainder principally sturgeon, perch, and pickerel. 



In 1874 the catch was unusually large, and two-thirds of it was salted, 

 but since that year it has usually been sold fresh. In 1881 the stock 

 amounted to $1,000 to each net, one-half of which was for whitefish j 

 but the two succeeding years it was only half that amount. In 1884 it 

 had fallen to $400, and in 1885 to less than $200. The decrease in 

 abundance of fish has been to a great extent limited to whitefish, 

 which have rapidly grown scarce since 1879. In 1884 the total value of 

 the product of the pound-net fishery of Two Eivers was $6,381, but 

 this included the stock of two nets belonging to a crew which had with- 

 drawn from the business before the opening of the following season. 



Gill-net fishery . — Long before the pound-net fisheries began, gill-nets 

 were fished in these waters in considerable numbers and with great 

 success. As an illustration of the abundance of fish it may be stated 

 that in 1852 there were taken in thirty nets 300 packages of whitefish 

 and 50 packages of trout. Several fishing steamers have made their 

 headquarters at Two Kivers, at intervals, since about 1870. In 1872 

 the steamer Marion, owned at Manitowoc, began to operate gill-nets 

 from Two Kivers, but after continuing the practice for seven years she 

 finally went into the dredging business. The Bertha Undress fished 

 here in 1883, and then left for Lake Superior. The steamer Boss, of 

 Chicago, fished from the place during the season of 1884, but later 

 drifted out of the harbor in a storm and was lost. In 1885 the busi- 

 ness was carried on exclusively from small boats. 



In 1884 there were at Two Rivers 11 crews, consisting of 24 men, with 

 1,095 nets. The total value of their boats and apparatus amounted to 

 $8,800. In 1885 there were 16 boats, with 34 men, and 1,750 nets, the 

 boats and nets having a combined value of $13,400. The products in 

 1884 amounted to 50,877 pounds of fresh fish, worth $2,900, and 400 

 packages of salt fish, valued at $1,160. In 1885 they consisted of 146,000 

 pounds of fresh and 427 packages of salt trout, with a total value of 

 $7,800. 



The season usually begins about March 15, but in 1885 the fishermen 

 were not able to start until the middle of April. About the 20th of 

 September they go north, usually to Ahnapee or Clay Banks, and work 

 there until November 30. Some of the boats work on the NewtonvilJe 

 reef, 1 mile from shore, from October 1 to December 1. 



The nets used are 45 fathoms long and 18 meshes deep, with a 4£ to 

 4f-inch mesh. Corks and leads began to be substituted for floats and 

 stones about 1875. Each net contains 7 pounds of twine, 53 pounds of 

 leads, 1 pound of sewing twine, 10 pounds of " meter" or hanging rope, 

 and 160 floats. The leads cost 10 cents per pound, the sewing twine 25 

 cents, and the other twine $1.85. 



