298 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



been important, and in 1885 there were only fourteen nets fished iu the 

 lake, nearly half of these being set for ale wives* which are used in the 

 manufacture of oil and fertilizer at Pillar Point. The absence of pound- 

 nets in certain good fishing districts may be partially explained by the 

 stony character of the bottom, which prevents the driving of pound-net 

 stakes. To obviate this, the fishermen have invented a movable trap- 

 net, similar in every respect to the pound, except that it is smaller, is 

 held in position by means of stones and floats, and its bowl has a top 

 of netting to prevent the escape of fish. 



These nets are set in different localities where the fish chance to be 

 abundant, being so arranged as to be easily moved from place to place. 

 They are set on the bottom in water varying from 10 to 25 feet, the pot 

 being lifted to the surface whenever it is necessary to remove the fish. 

 The principal species obtained in them are sturgeon, whiten* sh, bull- 

 heads, and wall-eyed pike. This variety of apparatus was not fished 

 extensively, if at all, prior to 1875, since which time the fishery has 

 grown in importance, until now over half of the entire catch of fish 

 along the shores between Oswego and Cape Vincent is obtained in the 

 trap nets. At present it flourishes principally between Stony Point 

 and Cape Vincent. No trap-nets are used west of Sodus Bay and only 

 few west of Oswego. 



Fyke-nets. — These have been employed for some years along various 

 portions of the coast where the shore is low and swampy, or in bays 

 where there are extensive mud-flats, and are fished chiefly for bull- 

 heads and catfish, though small quantities of bass, yellow pike, eels, 

 and perch are secured. At present more than a thousand are fished 

 with more or less regularity in the waters of the lake, most of them 

 being owned by farmers living along the shore. 



Gill-nets. — Gill-nets are used along all portions of the shore, varying 

 in size and mesh according to the kind of fish taken. The principal 

 gill-net fisheries are for sturgeon, whitefish, and herring. The gill- 

 net fishery for sturgeon is quite recent, though other species have been 

 captured in this form of apparatus for many years. 



Fishermen. — The fishermen as a rule are men who devote only a por- 

 tion of their time to the fisheries. A majority of them are farmers living 

 along the shores, and others are mechanics that fish only during those 

 portions of the year when there is little employment on land. Probably 

 the number entirely dependent upon the fisheries would not exceed fifty, 

 though others giving a considerable portion of their time to the fish- 

 eries have in the statistics been regarded as professional fishermen. 



Commercial species.— The principal species taken, in order of their im- 

 portance, are bull-head (Amiurus catus), herring (Coregonus artedi), stur- 

 geon (Acipenser rubicundus), wall-eyed pike (Stizostedium vitreum), bass 

 (Micropterus salmoides), whitefish (Coregonus clupeiformis), eel (Anguilla 



*Accidentally introduced with shad. 



