206 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Location of the fisheries. — The fisheries along the greater part of this 

 shore have never been very extensive, although they have been increas- 

 ing of late years; and at present important commercial fisheries occur 

 about Alpena, while Saginaw Bay is the center of large pound and fyke 

 fisheries. Fishing is also extensive during a portion of the year along 

 the northern shore, where fishermen from St. Ignace, Mackinac Island, 

 and other places are engaged in the capture of whitefish and trout with 

 pound-nets and gill-nets. On the Canadian side very important fish- 

 eries occur in the neighborhood of the Duck Islands, in Georgian Bay, 

 and along the northwest portion of the Canadian shore, large quantities 

 of whitefish and trout being taken and shipped to the Detroit market. 



Apparatus of capture. — Seines are employed only to a small extent, the 

 great bulk of the fishing being carried on with pounds and gill-nets. 

 The latter are used in considerable numbers at all the fishing centers 

 along the American shore, and the pound-net fishing, although for- 

 merly of little consequence, is rapidly increasing, the principal centers for 

 this fishery at present being in Saginaw Bay and Thunder Bay. The 

 fishermen, as a rule, own the apparatus used, and ship their catch to 

 market in a fresh condition by the lake boats or sell to peddlers, salting 

 only such quantities as can not be readily disposed of. 



Species. — The principal species taken are whitefish, trout, pike, pick- 

 erel, and herring, although large quantities of sturgeon are yearly 

 being caught and find their way to market. In Saginaw Bay bull- 

 heads, bass, and perch form a considerable proportion of the catch in 

 addition to the other species mentioned. 



Season. — The fishing season begins as soon as the ice breaks up in 

 the spring and continues without intermission until it forms again in 

 the fall, or until the cold storms interrupt the fishing operations. In 

 some localities fishing is continued during the winter months, although 

 on a rather small scale. 



Trade. — The catch from many of the fishing stations in Lake Huron 

 is sent almost exclusively to Detroit, from which point it is shipped to 

 different parts of the country, the dealers placing any surplus fish that 

 they may have in refrigerators until such time as the state of the 

 market will warrant shipment. But little business is done in fish- 

 smoking, and the few fish thus treated are for home supply. 



Table of persons employed in the fisheries of Lake Huron in 1885. 



Section- 



North shore of Lake Huron. 



Cheboygan County, Mich 



Presque Isle County, Mich . . 



Alpena County, Mich 



Alcona County, Mich 



Iosco County, Mich 



Saginaw Bay and River 



Lower Lake Huron 



Total 



Fishermen. 



Shores- 

 men, pre- 

 parators, 

 and me- 

 chanics. 



Total 

 number 

 of per- 

 sons em- 

 ployed. 



Number 

 of per- 

 sons de- 

 pendent. 



Profes- 

 sional. 



Semi-pio- 

 fessional. 



68 

 19 



40 



27 



135 

 19 



27 

 65 

 20 



27 



565 



34 



218 

 50 



21 





6 



11 



1 



6 



22 



07 



48 

 19 



6 



162 

 50 



21 





51 



433 

 34 



110 



1,473 



68 











663 



150 



73 



892 



2, 140 



