FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 221 



Cilling located at the mouth of Black River for the purpose of gill-net 

 fishing, but caught so few fish that he soon abandoned the experiment, 

 which has been several times siuce repeated at the same place on a 

 small scale, but uniformly without success. In 1850 gill-net fishing 

 began at Sturgeon Point and continued until about 1875. Gill-nets 

 were introduced at Greenbush in 1854, and were iu use until 1881. 

 Pound-nets also made their first appearance in Alcona County in 1854. 

 Harrisville had a gill-net fishery from 1859 to 1883. 



Character of the fisheries. — The only fisheries at present in operation 

 are carried on by residents of Alcona and Harrisville. Alcona has 

 four gill-net crews, and ten pound-nets owned at that village are scat- 

 tered along the shore from within a mile or two of Black River to the 

 south side of Sturgeon Point. Four pound-nets were set at Harrisville 

 in 1884, and in 1885 three owned at that place were fished about a mile 

 south of Sturgeon Point. The fishing ground for the gill-net crews is 

 about 6 miles from the shore and is 16 miles long and 8 miles wide, 

 with, bottom of rock, sand or clay. 



The principal change which has taken place in the fishing is the sub- 

 stitution of the cork and lead method of hanging gill-nets for the stone 

 and float rig which was at first universal. 



Species. — The chief species caught are whitefish and trout, but pickerel, 

 herring, and sturgeon are also taken. On the gill-net grounds com- 

 paratively few whitefish are obtained, while around Sturgeon Point 

 they are much more numerous than any other species. The kinds of 

 fish named were at first very abundant, but their great decrease has 

 caused the extinction of most of the old fisheries. Even at Alcona, 

 where the fishermen still ply their trade, the catch has been light since 

 1882. The whitefish are more abundant during the spawning season 

 than at any other time. 



Trade. — Up to 1875, all or nearly all of the fish taken were salted 

 and sold to traders, who took them to Detroit and other lower lake ports. 

 Since that date the custom has been to ship the catch fresh in cars from 

 Alcona to Detroit and Port Huron. The herring and a few packages 

 of other fish are still salted for shipment, and from 4 to 7 tons per 

 annum of fresh fish are used locally. 



Statistics. — The total number of men employed in the fisheries of this 

 county in 1885 was 25, 24 of whom were fishermen, whose 15 pound- 

 nets and 372 gill-nets had a combined value of $4,803 ; their boats, $815, 

 and their shore property and accessories, $923 j the working capital 

 amounted to $625. 



The catch was valued at $4,858, and was as follows: Sold fresh, 

 60,080 pounds of whitefish, 45,660 pounds of trout, 2,300 pounds of pike 

 and pickerel, 1,460 pounds of sturgeon, and 500 pounds of miscellaneous 

 species j salted, 16,200 pounds of herring and 12,000 pounds of trout. 



