220 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The crew of a fishing steamer consists of a captain, at from $75 to $100 

 per month, an engineer, at from $75 to $85 per mouth, and five men, at 

 from $25 to $50. Among the sail-boat fishermen the most common 

 practice is for the owner of the fishing rig to hire his men by the mouth, 

 and furnish them board and lodging, paying, in addition, an average of 

 $65 per month to the " boat-runner," or captain, and $25 or $30 per 

 month to the other men in the boat. Shore hands, who have to mend 

 the nets, get a little more than ordinary boat-men, their wages being 

 according to their skill. Sometimes the outfit is rented for a fixed sum 

 or fished on shares. 



The men who fish on a small scale occasionally knit their own nets 

 in the winter, but only a few do this. Almost all the netting is ob- 

 tained from the fish buyers. The fishermen do their own seaming, and 

 attach the corks and leads. When float and stone are used the fisher- 

 men select stones about 3 inches long and 1J to 2£ inches thick and 

 chip them at the sides to form a shallow groove in which the string is 

 tied that holds the stone to the net. The floats are a little over 2 feet 

 long, 1£ inches wide, and half an iuch thick. These are prepared at 

 times when the weather is not suitable for visiting the fishing-grounds. 

 When floats and stones are used the nets are hung on posts to dry, but 

 cork-and-lead nets are wound upon reels for that purpose. 



In 1885 the fishermen used 8 gill-net boats, valued at $1,920, and 

 8G5 nets, worth $11,168. The shore houses had a value of $4,261, and 

 other apparatus and accessories $315, the cash capital being $1,150. 



Other fisheries. — The " shoal- water " trout in this region begin to spawn 

 in the latter part of September. Their favorite resorts are the rocky 

 shallows near Middle and Thunder Bay Islands. They are fat and 

 well-flavored, and weigh 5 or 6 pounds. On pleasant nights during the 

 spawning season a good many of these trout are speared, but this is 

 not carried on as a business and is not of sufficient importance to be 

 included in the statistics. 



77. ALCONA COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Physical characteristics. — Alcona County has a shore line over 20 

 miles in extent. The water is usually extremely shallow near the land, 

 with a rocky bottom. The shore is generally low and sandy, but at 

 Greenbush and Harrisville it begins to rise rapidly a short distance 

 from the water. 



Coast hamlets. — There are only four villages on this piece of coast, if 

 we exclude Sturgeon Point, where there are a United States life-saving 

 station, light-house, and a few shanties. These are Alcona, Greenbush, 

 Harrisville, and Black River, with a population of 150 to 500 each. 



History of the fisheries. — The earliest recorded fishing in this county 

 was at Alcona, where, in the first year of its settlement, gill nets were 

 brought from New York State by William Hill, and this form of apparatus 

 has been in continuous use ever since. The next season (1819) William 



