FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 



267 



Many thousand pounds of sturgeon roe are now annually spiced and 

 pickled as caviare, and large quantities of isinglass are made from the 

 sounds or air-bladders. A large portion of both these products is sent 

 to Germany. The yearly exportation is about 1,000 kegs of caviare 

 and 3,000 pounds of isinglass. Over 25 barrels of oil are tried out 

 yearly from the offal of the sturgeon by the two firms interested. 



Before productive fisheries existed at Sandusky, fish were brought 

 from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to Cleveland and other lake 

 ports, whence they were shipped to the towns in the interior. After 

 the opening of the Ohio and Miami canals, the shipments of fish formed 

 a considerable item in their commerce, but the introduction of railways 

 rapidly diverted to them this growing business and facilitated its ex- 

 pansion by extending greatly the distance to which fresh fish could be 

 shipped upon ice in good condition. Mr. Klippart has compiled from 

 the reports of the canal commissioners and board of public works the 

 following table of receipts of lake fish at Sandusky by canal from the 

 opening of the Ohio Canal, in 1832, to the time the canals were placed 

 in the hands of the lessees, in 1861 : 



Shipments of lake fish by canal from the places named. 



Years. 



Cleve- 

 land. 



Toledo. 



Maumee 

 City. 



Total. 



Tears. 



Cleve- 

 land. 



Toledo. 



Maumee 

 City. 



Total. 



1832 



Barrels. 

 7,661 

 4,033 

 4,024 

 6,136 

 4, 082 

 6,248 

 7.504 

 8,851 

 9,061 

 9,309 

 6.274 

 6, 689 

 7,900 



10, 400 

 8,884 



10, 044 

 9,711 



Barrels. 



Barrels. 



Barrels. 



7,661 



4,033 



4,024 



6,136 



4, 082 



6,248 



7,504 



8, 851 



9,078 



9,499 



6,276 



7,450 



8,217 



13, 016 



14, 554 



15, 767 



16, 291 



1849 



1850 



1851 



1852 



1853 



1854 



1855 



1856 



1857 



1858 



1859 



1860 



Total.... 



Annual av- 

 erage 



Barrels. 

 12, 899* 



18, 211 



19, 942 

 18, 148 

 18, 260 

 10, 325 



5,378 

 6,268 

 4,645 

 3,691 

 3,617 

 2,346 



Barrels. 



2, 222 

 6,864 

 8,553 

 7, 725 



11,063 

 6,619 

 2,804 



3, 390 

 1,641 

 2,173 

 1,070 

 2,679 



Barrels. 



2,671 



3,241 



4,137 



3,828 



5,187 



3,121 



360 



1, 535 



2,219 



1,449 



939 



691 



Barrels. 

 17, 792£ 

 28, 316 



1833 







1834 







32, 632 









29, 701 



1836 







34, 510 



1837 







20, 065 



1838 







8,542 



1839 







11, 193 



1840 





17 



190 



2 



419 



8,505 



1841 





7, 313 



1842 . 





5,626 



1843 



1844 



342 

 317 



2,186 

 4,303 

 4,617 

 4,387 



5,716 



1845 



1846 



430 

 1,367 

 1,106 

 2,193 



250, 541| 



72, 955 



35,102 



358, 598| 



1847 



1848 



8, 639 5 9 g 



4, 054 £ 



1, 755 T V 



12, 366 



At present every county in the State, with scarcely a single excep- 

 tion, can be reached from Toledo, Sandusky, or Cleveland within twelve 

 hours, so that the fish are brought to the very door of the consumer in 

 a perfectly fresh state. 



In the early history of the fresh -fish trade, the shipping season cov- 

 ered only a few weeks in the spring and fall, and during that time a 

 single firm would handle an average of 30 or 40 tons daily. By the use 

 of large quantities of ice the dealers are now able to distribute the trade 

 more evenly throughout the year. Several firms receive shipments of 

 fish from the upper lakes, packed in ice, which serve to keep the market 

 stocked at times when a local supply is not obtainable. The introduc- 

 tion of freezing houses, in which the fish can be frozen in the fall and 



