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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Lake Ontario 



Lake Ontario is the easternmost and, excepting Lake Nipigon, the smallest of 

 the Great Lakes and is bounded on the north and west by the Province of Ontario 

 and on the south and east by the State of New York. It has a length of 185 miles, 

 an average width of 40 miles, and, with its bays, a total area of about 7,300 square 

 miles. There are no islands or shoals except near the outlet, where it discharges 

 into the St. Lawrence River. The shores everywhere slope rapidly into deep water^ 

 but most rapidly on the south, and the deep trough runs nearer this shore. The 

 30-fathom contour on an average runs less than 3 miles from land on the southern 

 shore, while on the north it is about 5 to 10 miles distant. The trough broadens 

 toward the east and is overlaid by depths of 70 to 90 fathoms in the western half 

 and by 90 to 123 fathoms in the eastern half. The bottom over most of the lake is 

 clay with narrow stretches of sand and rock along the shores, particularly among 

 the islands at the eastern end. 



The lake's output is less than that of any of the others except Lake Nipigon, 

 but in the early days fish seem to have been rather common in it. The annual 

 yield has been about 5,000,000 pounds, most of it from the Canadian side. The 

 principal species are whitefish, trout, and herring, with the coregonids predominating. 



FISHING METHODS 



The gill net is the type of apparatus most widely used on the Great Lakes. 

 Gill nets of three sorts are in general use: (1) Nets of mesh of about 4 to 4% inches, 

 stretched, though the mesh may be larger at certain seasons (these are used principally 

 for whitefish and trout) ; (2) nets of 2 to 3 inch stretched mesh (these are employed 

 chiefly for the lake herrings and chubs); (3) nets of about lj^-inch stretched mesh 

 (used to take bait for the trout hooks). 



Pound nets, with the related trap, crib, and fyke nets, are employed in the shore 

 fisheries and take all the species that occur along the shores. All of them, of neces- 

 sity, are restricted to use in shallow water and are therefore most numerous in those 

 lakes where there are broad shoals. The use of certain varieties is proscribed within 

 the jurisdiction of certain of the Governments that control the lakes. 



Seines are now employed only in special fisheries and take few coregonids. 



Hooks are used commonly in some of the lakes, principally for trout. Core- 

 gonids are never taken in commercial quantities by them. 



For a more complete account of the fishing industry of the Great Lakes, consult 

 Koelz, 1926. 



COLLECTION OF DATA 

 Localities and Dates 



In Tables 1 to 4 are given the localities visited in making collections and in 

 gathering data for this paper, together with the periods of time during which the work 

 was carried on and the number of lifts examined and specimens of each kind of fish 

 preserved. While approximately 16 months were spent in the field, during only a 

 fraction of this time was it possible to make observations. Much time was con- 

 sumed in traveling from one port to another, and bad weather, especially -in the fall, 

 often prevented fishing operations for days at a time. During the entire period 



