FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 215 



sandy, and although it is a safe and roomy harbor it is inaccessible to 

 boats drawing over 6 feet of water. Mr. Wires says that Little Thunder 

 Bay is one of the best locations on the west shore of Lake Huron for 

 penning whitefish to obtain their spawn. Abreast of North Point, 

 and about 3 J miles distant, is a group of small islands, consisting of 

 Thunder Bay Island, Sugar Island, Gull Island, and several little islets 

 yet unnamed. A reef, which is in some places as shoal as 4 fathoms, 

 runs from Thunder Bay Island to "Middle Island, at a distance of 4 

 miles from the mainland, and protects the shores between North Point 

 and Nine Mile Point from heavy seas. On this reef whitefish spawn in 

 November. Outside the reef the lake bed sinks rapidly and in places 

 almost abruptly, til'l it reaches a depth of from 20 to 40 fathoms. 



Early and present population. — A few fishermen and hunters located 

 themselves temporarily within the limits of the present county of Al- 

 pena about the year 1835, and between that time and 1856 a few fisher- 

 men settled on Thunder Bay Island and Sugar Island, but the region 

 was sparsely populated until 185G, when Alpena City was located and 

 partly surveyed. The entire population of Alpena County amounted to 

 only 12,717 in 1884, according to the state census, and of these 9,210 

 were residents of Alpena City. This place is situated on both sides of 

 Thunder Bay River, at its mouth. There is a dam about a mile up the 

 river, and the channel below forms a perfectly sheltered harbor. 



The only other settlement on the lake coast of the couuty is Ossineke, 

 12 miles south, a little hamlet ^f 100 inhabitants. 



History of the fisheries, — The first fishery prosecuted from these shores 

 was inaugurated in 1835, when John Muncy located at Thunder Bay 

 Island and began fishing with stone and float gill-nets. In 1836 

 another man followed his example at Middle Island. Fishing has been 

 carried on more or less regularly at different places in the county 

 from that time to the present. In 1858 pound or trap-net fishing was 

 introduced from Ohio, and a net was set at Whitefish Point, about 4 

 miles northeast of Alpena. 



Causes of decreased abundance of fish, — At first whitefish and trout 

 were both abundaut, and fishermen found no difficulty in catching with 

 a few small gill-nets as many fish as they could sell. But since 1881 or 

 1882 they have been comparatively scarce. Various causes are given 

 for this decrease. The gill-net fishermen lay the blame on the small- 

 meshed pound-nets. The pound-net fishermen, on the other hand, throw 

 the responsibility upon the saw-mills and the gill-net men. The saw- 

 mills, they say, pollute the waters with sawdust and vegetable re- 

 fuse, and the gill- net men lose a great many nets, which, with the 

 fish in them, soon decay and become a putrid mass which contaminates 

 the fishing grounds and causes the fish to leave for other places. Mr. 

 S. P. Wires reports : " On two questions they all agree. First, twenty 

 years and less ago the waters on the shores of Alpena County 

 swarmed with whitefish and trout. Second, to-day these fish are not 



