212 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



York fishermen the authorities on this side have allowed them to engage in the same 

 fishery in the town of Lewiston so long as it is permitted on the Canadian side of 

 the river. 



The " fishing machine " is probably unique among the forms of fishing apparatus 

 employed in the United States. A framework of timbers, similar to a small wharf, 

 is built out from the shore about 20 or 30 feet, and is heavily weighted with large 

 stones to prevent its being carried away by the swift current. In the center of this 

 structure is a well inclosed on all sides except the one facing down the river. A 

 square wooden box, with sides about 8 inches in height, and a bottom of fine- 

 meshed iron screen, is lowered into the well, into which it fits easily, by means of a 

 windlass. As the well is open on the side facing down the river, fish, which swim 

 close to the shore on their way up the river so as to escape the swift current farther 

 out, enter it. When the fish are running well the box is raised about every half 

 hour to a level with the platform, the water escaping through the screen as it comes 

 above the surface. The fish of legal size and kind are then removed from the box 

 while the others are allowed to escape when it is lowered again, which is done almost 

 immediately. These machines are used from about the middle of May until the ice 

 forms in the fall. The principal species taken in them are sturgeon, white bass and 

 yellow perch. All game fish and small fish must be returned to the river again. 



Indians are permitted to use spears in fishing on the river and a few of them 

 engage in the business when sturgeon are running. They usually fish from rocks 

 favorably situated along the shore. 



The following tables show the men, apparatus, shore property, and catch by 

 species and apparatus on the river in 1899: 



Table Showing, by Counties, the Men, Boats, Apparatus and Shore Property 

 Employed in the Fisheries of Niagara River in 1899. 



NIAGARA 



items 



Fishermen, 

 Apparatus of capture : 



Fishing machines, - 



Spears, 

 Shore property, - 



Total, 



