FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES IN 1885. 325 



Kinds of nets employed. — Pound-nets, which were so extensively used 

 five years ago, have been almost completely replaced by trap-nets, and 

 at the present time there are only seven pound-nets in Chaumout Bay 

 or off the point, and five of these are set for alewives. Gill-nets and 

 fyke-nets are the other forms of apparatus employed. 



Species and abundance. — In 1885, the principal fishing was for herring 

 which were taken in gill-nets. In addition to these, bull-heads and pike 

 were the only abundant species, although sturgeon, bass, and eels were 

 not uncommon. Whitefish and trout are very scarce, the latter being 

 particularly so. There was, however, a decided increase of whitefish 

 in 1885 as compared with the previous year, and ample testimony is 

 at hand to show that whitefish are becoming more abundant. More fish 

 two and three years old have been seen than ever before. 



Disposition of products. — Nearly four-fifths of the herring were cleaned 

 and packed in salt in half-barrels, about one-third of which were sold at 

 Chaumout where also most of the other fish are landed. A few fish are 

 reserved by the fishermen for their own use. 



The trade. — The fishermen get their supplies from Chaumout and pay 

 for them in fish. Two sail-boats that belong at Chaumout collect fish 

 from Stony, Galloo, Grenadier, and Fox Islands. The fish are shipped 

 to New York and other eastern cities, whitefish and trout each repre- 

 senting one-twentieth of the entire amount; the larger part of these 

 were obtained from Canada and many other kinds also come from there. 

 Mr. Dewey has kindly furnished the following figures of the fish trade 

 of Chaumout in 1885 : 



Pounds of fresh fish purchased from fishermen: Whitefish, 10,000; trout, 12,000; 

 sturgeon, 30,000; bull-heads, 1(3,000; eels, 10,000; other fish, iucludingpike and pick- 

 erel, bass, etc., 180,000. 



Number of half- barrels of salt fish bought from fishermen : Herring, 100. 



Number of half-barrels of fresh fish salted before shipping : Whitefish, 10. 



Average price per pound paid to fishermen for fresh fish : Whitefish, 6 cents ; trout, 

 6 cents ; sturgeon, 4£ cents ; bull-heads, 3 cents; eels, 3 cents; other fish, 4 cents. 



Manufacture offish oil and guano. — This enterprise was inaugurated at 

 Pillar Point in 1881. Operations were beguu in a rather primitive way. 

 A small seine, 198 feet long and 12 feet deep, was the only apparatus 

 at first employed for capturing the alewives, which are used for making 

 oil and fertilizer. The cider-press which was at first employed to express 

 the oil proved wholly insufficient to utilize all the fish lauded. The re- 

 sults of the year's work were only 60 gallons of oil and 5 tons of fertil- 

 izer. In 1885 great changes and improvements were made. The seine 

 was discarded and five pound-nets were substituted in lieu thereof; ap- 

 paratus that had been used in the manufacture of menhaden oil and 

 scrap was brought from Maine ; and as a result the output of the factory 

 in 1885 was nearly ten times greater than that for the previous year. 

 The methods pursued in 1885 were about as follows : The fish were 

 taken from the nets with a scoop and transported in boats to the factory, 

 where they were transferred to a car and run by steam to the top of 



