268 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



held for distribution over the whole country in winter and spring, has 

 also facilitated very much the equalization of the supply, and to the 

 same extent has prevented such marked fluctuations in price as other- 

 wise might occur to the great injury of the fisheries. The first to carry 

 on the freezing process in Sandusky to any great extent was Mr. Fer- 

 dinand Geissdorf, who was engaged in the fish trade there from 1855 to 

 18G8. For a long time he owned the exclusive right to the Davis patent. 

 Since the last-mentioned date the business of freezing fish has increased 

 very much at Sandusky, and in 1885 several firms were provided with 

 freezing houses. Some of these have a freezing capacity of 10 to 20 tons 

 of fish per daj r , and they will each hold from 300 to 375 tons of frozen 

 fish. Some of the firms own large ice-houses, in which is stored the ice 

 used in the freezers and for packing unfrozen fish for shipment. One 

 of these has a storage capacity of 1,500 tons of ice. Much of the frozen 

 fish is shipped to the principal dealers in the East. 



The following table shows the quantity of fish handled by the whole- 

 sale fish dealers of Sandusky in 1885, during certain times in which 

 year the daily receipts from the fisheries in the vicinity of Sandusky 

 amounted to from 500 to 700 tons of fish. 



Wholesale fish trade of Sandusky, Ohio, in 1885. 



Species. 



Bass ■ 



Blue pike 



Catfish and bullheads 



Grass pike aud muskellunge 



Herring 



Perch 



Saugers 



Sturgeon flesh 



Sturgeon caviare 



Sturgeon isinglass 



Sturgeon oil 



Walleyed pike (called pickerel) . 



Whitefish , 



Other fish 



Total . 



Fresh. 



Pounds. 



300, 000 



14, 200 



834, 170 



77, 000 



4, 378, 000 



700, 000 



1, 357, 370 



280, 000 



370, 000 

 346, 300 

 528, 000 



9, 185, 040 



Frozen. 



Pounds. 



117, 250 



35, 000 



2, 270, 000 



30, 000 



446, 350 



160, 000 



25, 900 



296, 000 



9,500 



3, 390, 000 



Salted. 



Pounds. 



45, 000 



3, 930, 000 



i, 93I, 666 



20, 000 



5, 926, 000 



Smoked. 



Pounds. 



220, 000 



2, 110, 000 



2, 330, 000 



Second 

 ary 

 prod- 

 ucts. 



Pounds. 



156, 575 



3,250 



*3, 485 



159, 825 



Total 

 weight. 



Pounds. 



300, 000 



176, 450 



834, 170 



112, 000 



10, 798, 000 



730, 000 



3, 734, 720 



2, 550, 000 



156, 575 



3,250 



*3, 485 



395, 900 



642, 300 



557, 500 



Total 

 value. 



20, 990, 865 



$16, 500 



6,750 



21,000 



7,350 



233, 700 



7, 000 



89, 900 



179,800 



21, 150 



4,875 



1,325 



23, 400 



46, 000 



3,550 



662, 300 



* Gallons, not included in the total. 



Statistics. — The total number of fishermen between Port Clinton and 

 Huron, in 1885, not including those ports, but including Bass Islands, 

 Kelley's Island, and Sandusky, was 590, and the number of shoresmen 

 and preparators was 232 ; the directly dependent population being no 

 less than 2,102. Eight steamers, worth $33,500, were engaged in fishing, 

 and two, worth $13,000, in collecting fish. The regular passenger and 

 freight steamers which ply between Sandusky, the islands, and other 

 lake ports, and transport large quantities of fish, are not included in 

 this enumeration. Seven sailboats were used in collecting and 122 in 

 tending pound-nets, their value being $21,995. There were, in addition, 



