306 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Prices to the fishermen. — The prices at which the different kinds of 

 fish are sold are as follows : Sturgeon, 5 or 6 ceuts per pound ; herring, 

 2 to 3 J cents fresh, 4 cents salted ; whitefish, 6 to 8 cents ; trout, bass, 

 pike, perch, and bull-heads, 6 to 10 cents. 



Statistics of men, apparatus, and products. — The number of men en- 

 gaged in fishing at Wilson in 1885 was 26, 16 being professional and 

 10 semi-professional fishermen. They possessed the following appa- 

 ratus: 10 gill-net boats and 17 other boats, worth $765 5 247 sturgeon 

 gill-nets with a total length of 40,755 feet, worth $1,210; 246 whitefish 

 and trout gill-nets, 40,590 feet in length, worth $1,185; 159 herring gill- 

 nets, 26,235 feet loug, worth $720; 240,000 feet of set-lines, with 16,000 

 hooks, worth $190; and miscellaneous apparatus and shore property 

 worth $405. The total amouut invested in the fisheries was $4,475. 



The catch in 1885 consisted of 169,900 pounds of herring, of which 

 6,500 pounds were salted; 51,225 pounds of sturgeon; 3,000 pounds of 

 bass ; 3,000 pounds of pike ; 2,000 pounds of bull-heads ; 650 pounds of 

 whitefish; 75 pounds of trout; and 3,600 pounds of miscellaneous fish, 

 including suckers, sunfish, etc.; the whole being valued at $8,000. 



102. OLCOTT, NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



Past and present importance of the fisheries. — Olcott is a town of 300 

 people, situated at the mouth of Eighteen-Mile Creek, which here wid- 

 ens into a harbor with 11 feet of water. Toward the east the coast is 

 rough and rocky, and off Olcott the bottom of the lake is very hard and 

 uneven, so that when pound-nets were used, a number of years ago, it 

 was a rather difficult matter to locate the stakes. The larger part of 

 the people are Americans by birth and farmers by occupation. 



Pound-net and trap fishing, which was carried on to a considerable 

 extent eight or ten years ago, is now prohibited, and gill-nets and set- 

 lines alone are used. Fishermen say that fish are increasing in abun- 

 dance year by year, and they desire to be granted the same privileges 

 that are enjoyed by fishermen in other lakes. 



Species, season, and fishing grounds. — Sturgeon and herring are the 

 principal species caught : next in importance come bull-heads, bass, and 

 eels ; whitefish are very scarce, and only a few trout are taken. The 

 fishing begins as soon as the ice breaks up and continues until the lake 

 freezes again. Sturgeon are caught in gill-nets and on set-liues during 

 the entire open season ; the best grounds are east of the town, 1 to 3 

 miles from the shore. Herring, bass, whitefish, and bull-heads are taken 

 chiefly in the spring and fall. From June to October several hundred 

 people visit this locality for pleasure fishing. They fish with hand-lines 

 from boats and from the pier. Olcott fishermen set their nets as far 

 east as Thirty-Mile Point, where they meet with several fishermen 

 from Barker's and Somerset, inland towns east of Olcott, the appa- 

 ratus and catch of whom will, for convenience, be included in the sta- 

 tistics for Olcott. 



