294 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Disposition of catch, prices, etc.— Mr. Williams says that the fishermen, 

 as a rule, dispose of their fish by selling directly to the dealers, at prices 

 ranging from 1J cents per pound during the early summer and fall 

 months to 7 cents per pound during the lenten season. The dealers, in 

 turn, after supplying the local demand, freeze the whitefish, pike, and 

 perch, and ship them in a frozen state by means of refrigerator cars to 

 the Eastern markets, where they are readily sold at a good profit to the 

 shippers. The fishermen sell their entire catch of sturgeon chiefly to 

 one or two dealers, at prices varying with the supply and demand from 

 2 to 7 cents per pound dressed, and receive from 25 to 75 cents apiece 

 for the roes. The methods of preserving the sturgeon and roe is not 

 well understood by the fishermen, and they are therefore obliged to sell 

 to the dealers, who smoke a considerable proportion of their supply of 

 sturgeon and make caviare of the roes. The caviare made at Buffalo 

 has the distinction of being of a very superior quality, and is shipped 

 to nearly every part of the globe, while smoked sturgeon prepared in 

 Buffalo is to be found in nearly all the large Eastern cities. The fish 

 caught in the ice-fishery are used in the homes of the fishermen, con- 

 siderable quantities are sold to peddlers, some are shipped to the in- 

 land markets, and the fish dealers in Buffalo get the remainder. From 

 5 to 7 cents per pound are received by the fishermen. 



Dealers. — The fish trade of Buffalo in 1885 was chiefly in the hands 

 of three firms. Two of these have freezing apparatus with a combined 

 capacity of 460 tons; only one dealer prepares any caviare. Only a 

 very small percentage of the fish handled at Buffalo comes from Ameri- 

 can waters. One house has but one-tenth of its fish from American 

 fishermen, nine-tenths coining from Manitoba and from a branch house 

 in Toronto; another firm gets about one-fourth of its supply from the 

 American side of the lake, the larger portion of the remainder being 

 received through an agency in Canada ; while one-third of the remaining 

 whitefish, sturgeon, and pickerel was taken in provincial waters. The 

 number of persons einpk^ed in 1885 in the capacity of shoresmen and 

 preparators was thirteen. The wharves, buildings, apparatus, etc., 

 used in connection with the business were valued at $41,400. From 

 statements furnished by these firms the following table has been pre- 

 pared, showing in the aggregate their operations during 1885: 



Species. 



Whitefish... 



Trout 



Sturgeon 



Pike (hlue).. 

 Pike (yellow) 



Pickerel 



Bass 



Total.. 



Total 



quantity of 



fresh fish 



purchased 



from 

 fishermen. 



Pounds. 



1, 294, 000 



1,144,000 



170, 000 



200, 000 



289, 000 



284, 000 



9,000 



3, 390, 000 



Fresh fish 



bought 



from 



Canadian 



fishermen. 



Pounds. 



880, 300 



687, 000 



60, 000 



54, 000 



190, 000 



268, 000 



1,000 



2, 140, 000 



Average 



price per 



pound 



paid 



to fisher- 



Gents. 

 5£ 

 5* 



4h 



5 



5 



5 9 



Fresh fish 

 frozen 

 before 



shipping. 



Pounds. 

 240, 000 

 122, 000 



55, 000 

 58, 000 

 60, 000 



535, 000 



Fresh fish 

 smoked. 



Pounds. 



80, 000 



80, 000 



