FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 151 



Other fisheries. — One seine was fished occasionally for pickerel and 

 suckers, and there were also several gangs of set-lines with one thou- 

 sand hooks each. 



Disposition of products. — The products of the fisheries are generally 

 sold in a fresh state. No oil or caviare is made, and only about 1,000 

 pounds offish were smoked in 1885. 



Statistics. — In 1885 there were only 11 fishermen in the county, 

 using 7 boats, worth $335, and apparatus of capture worth $3,365. 

 The value of buildings and accessories was $420. The products con- 

 sisted of 5,500 pounds of whitefish, 30,000 pounds of trout, 2,000 pounds 

 of pike and pickerel, 1,500 pounds of sturgeon, and 3,000 pounds of 

 other fish, the whole having a value of $1,500. 



52. MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WISCONSIN. 



Character of the fisheries. — Although this county has a shore-line of 

 about 30 miles, its fisheries are carried on entirely from the city of 

 Milwaukee, with the exception of small interests at Whitefish Bay. 

 Milwaukee is one of the most important commercial centers on the 

 Great Lakes, and its fisheries form no inconsiderable part of the busi- 

 ness of the place, those with trawls and gill-nets from steamers and 

 sail-boats being especially important. A number of other forms of 

 apparatus have been used to a greater or less extent, including pound- 

 nets, seines, trammel-nets, fyke-nets, dip-nets, and baskets ; an attempt 

 was even made to employ the British beam-trawl, which, however, 

 proved a failure. 



In 1885 all of the leading fishermen were Germans, with the excep- 

 tion of a single family of Hollanders. They may be divided into three 

 classes— the steamer fishermen, the shore gill-net fishermen, and the 

 miscellaneous shore fishermen. 



Off-shore fishing grounds. — Most of the gill-net fishing is carried on 

 upon the two great reefs which skirt this portion of the coast. The inner 

 reef is 20 miles long, and extends from Eacine to the North Point. Its 

 outer edge is about 10 miles, and its inner edge 5 miles from the land. 

 The water is from 10 to 17 fathoms deep, and the bottom is generally 

 rocky, with occasional patches of clay. The outer reef begins east of 

 the city near the land, and runs first northeast and then north north- 

 east, extending as far north as Sheboygan, at which point it is 18 miles 

 from shore. It is about 4£ miles wide and about 35 fathoms deep, with 

 a bottom of varying character, in some places pebbly, in others rocky, 

 and in others covered with clay or black sand. 



Shore fishing. — Besides the crews of the steamers fishing with gill-nets 

 and set-lines and the men fishing gill-nets from sail- boats, there are a 

 number of men who give their attention to netting suckers and dipping 

 minnows in the late winter; they also fish with seines for shore species 

 in summer, and with fish-baskets for crayfish throughout the season 

 of open water. Occasionally they occupy themselves in the first few 



