FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 201 



eluding 23,000 pounds consumed by the fishermen and other residents. 

 The quantities of the different kinds were as follows : Sold fresh, 136,425 

 pounds of whitefish, 240,275 pounds of trout, 56,400 pounds of sturgeon, 

 10,000 pounds of suckers, 5,000 pounds of herring, and 130,000 pounds 

 of miscellaneous kinds; salted, 729,175 pounds of whitefish, 261,400 

 pounds of trout, 44,000 pounds of herring, and 20,000 pounds of suck- 

 ers. Of the fresh fish, 6,100 pounds, valued at $332, and of the salt fish 

 99,800 pounds, worth $4,460, were taken at the Manitou Islands. Large 

 quantities of suckers and sturgeon are thrown away by the fishermen 

 of this county as being unmarketable ; this waste in 1885 amounting to 

 not less than 100 tons, of which no account is taken in the foregoing 

 figures. 



Prices and trade. — The price paid for fresh fish in 1885 was 3 J cents 

 a pound for whitefish, and 3 cents for trout, all fish smaller than one 

 pound being discarded by the fresh fish dealers. The price for salt fish 

 was $2.75 to $3 per half-barrel for trout, and $3.50 to $4 per half-barrel 

 for whitefish. The fresh-fish trade is controlled largely by firms at St. 

 James and Manistique. 



Gill-net fishery. — Gill-nets have been used from the earliest settle- 

 ment of the islands and are still very extensively employed, fifty-six 

 boats with two, or occasionally three, men each, and two steamers, with 

 a total of fourteen men, fishing with them during the greater part of 

 1885, besides five crews of Indians who fished occasionally. One and 

 a half pounds of twine are used in making each net, and it measures, 

 when " seamed/' about 45 fathoms. The nets are from 14 to 18 meshes 

 deep, and have a 4£-inch mesh for whitefish, and 5 and even 6-inch 

 mesh for trout. Only float and stone nets were formerly employed, but 

 these are gradually being replaced by cork and lead rigged nets, which 

 now compose about two-thirds of the entire number. The first are 

 worth from $5.50 to $6 when ready for fishing, and the latter about $7 

 to $8, according to the quality of the twine used. The boats used are 

 almost exclusively of Mackinaw build, there being not more than half 

 a dozen huron boats owned on the islands. The mackinaws vary from 

 18 to 26 feet in length. They are strongly built, and, when new, are 

 worth $175, including sails. Two men ordinarily constitute a crew, 

 and they use an average of sixty to eighty nets. On the Manitou Isl- 

 ands, however, the crews fish a smaller number. Occasionally there 

 are three men in a crew, when from one hundred to one hundred and 

 fifteen nets are frequently fished. The nets are set in gangs of eight to 

 twelve each. The season begins by the 20th of April, or as soon after 

 as the ice will allow, and many of the fishermen continue without inter- 

 ruption during the entire summer, though some "cut out" during Sep- 

 tember. There are no regular fishing-grounds, if we exclude the " Mid- 

 dle Ground," a ledge about half way between Beaver and North Fox 

 Islands, with 8 to 10 fathoms of water, where trout are taken in con- 

 siderable quantities in the fall, and Gull Island, which has long been a 



