FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 237 



Ranking next in commercial importance come bass (Micropterus sal- 

 moides and M. dolomiei), which are found over the entire lake. Two- 

 thirds of the yield is in the vicinity of Sandusky. 



11 Grass pike" (Esox lucius) and muscallouge (E. nobilior) occur, but 

 only west of Erie, while trout (Salvelinus namaycush), which are not at 

 all abundant in this lake, are found only east of that city. Suckers, 

 mullet, and other minor species complete the list. These occur every- 

 where, but are taken in largest quantities at Sandusky and Erie. 



The trade. — The fish trade of Lake Erie is enormous, surpassing that 

 of any other lake. The sales of fish and other fishery products by 

 wholesale firms — numbering about fifty — amounted to nearly $2,000,000 

 in 1885. 



In certain fishing centers much of the apparatus is owned and ope- 

 rated by the dealers, this being noticeably the case at Sandusky, Huron, 

 Vermillion, and Erie, in all but the first named of which places the 

 pound-nets are entirely controlled by dealers. When not having ap- 

 paratus of their own, dealers usually buy from independent fishermen 

 to whom material and supplies are advanced. 



The principal communities as regards the extent of their fisheries are 

 also the chief markets. Sandusky ranks first among the markets of 

 the Great Lakes as it does among the markets of the world for fresh- 

 water fish. Next to Sandusky come Erie, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, 

 •Port Clinton, and Huron, in the order named. Detroit also receives a 

 fair proportion of the fish taken in Monroe County and the western end 

 of the lake. At Sandusky, Cleveland, and Buffalo large quantities of 

 Canadian fish are marketed, these being included with the other fish in 

 the statistical summary of the wholesale fish trade which follows. 



The fish generally reach the hands of the wholesale dealers in a fresh 

 state and a considerable proportion are then frozen, salted, or smoked 

 before shipment. The dealers in all the principal localities have freezers 

 in which fish may be preserved for an almost unlimited time if neces- 

 sary. Over 7,000,000 pounds were thus treated in 1885. Fish are 

 salted in Ohio and Pennsylvania, but not in the other states bordering 

 on this lake. About 10,000,000 pounds were salted in 1885, of which 

 three-fifths was the output of Sandusky. Smoking is practically con- 

 fiued to Sandusky, Erie, Cleveland, and Toledo, where 2,830,000 pounds 

 of fish were thus prepared in 1885; 08,000 pounds were also smoked at 

 Buffalo and Fairport, Ohio. The canning of herring is engaged in by 

 a firm at Cleveland ; the fish are artificially stained and put on the 

 market as canned salmon. 



Regarding secondary products it maybe stated that caviare is manu- 

 factured in large quantities at Sandusky, Toledo, and Erie, and to a less 

 extent in other places. The local demand is light but increasing. The 

 great bulk of the product is shipped abroad, chiefly to Germany and 

 other European countries. The price at first hands is 10 cents a pound. 

 Isinglass, made from the swimming bladders of the sturgeon, is raanu- 



