464 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



about the conditions under which small fish become en snarled in such netting, 

 and therefore the number of bloaters taken by nets too large to gill them may be 

 no accurate gauge of their abundance. The same, however, may be said of nets 

 in which they could gill, and for the present it seems worth while to record the rela- 

 tive abundance of the fish captured accidentally, particularly when the results are 

 fairly constant and are supported by data obtained from the 1^2-inch nets, which 

 must be considered as a more effective apparatus of capture and therefore likely 

 to yield more reliable evidence of abundance. 



Only on one occasion did I see bloaters numerous in the large-meshed nets, 

 namely, on October 14, 1917, off Rogers, at the 35-fathom end of a 2%-inch chub 

 gang (record 5). Only occasional specimens occurred in nets at that depth off 

 Cheboygan on July 21, September 29, and October 1, 1917 (records 1, 2, and 3), 

 and conditions obviously were unsuitable for their capture. However, the fishermen 

 report bloaters in such numbers in their trout nets as to be a nuisance. Off Tober- 

 mory in June in 30 fathoms and off Alpena in November in 24 to 30 fathoms (records 

 30 and 34) the bloaters are said to be so abundant in the 4j/£-inch nets that it requires 

 several hours to clear the nets of them. The fishermen then often turn the steam 

 hose on the nets to cook the fish and afterwards remove them by shaking the nets. 



At other situations bloaters have not been seen or reported to be caught abun- 

 dantly in large-meshed nets. Only few or occasional specimens were taken in the 

 lifts of the 2% to 3 inch chub nets from 60 to 100 fathoms made in Lake Huron off 

 Alpena, Mich., on August 13 and September 12, 14, 18, 19, 20, and 21, 1917, September 

 13 and 18, 1919, and June 30, and July 2, 5, and 7, 1923 (records 6, 10, 11, 14-18,. 

 21, and 24-28); from 50 fathoms off Harbor Beach, Mich., on October 27, 1917 

 (record 31) ; and in Georgian Bay in 52 to 70 fathoms off Lions Head on July 30 and 

 October 6, 1919 (records 36 and 37), off Wiarton on July 28 and 30, 1919, and in 

 10 to 25 fathoms on November 28, 1919 (records*38, 39, and 40). It is not known that 

 bloaters ever are absent entirely from such lifts, though it is conceivable that they 

 might be. In August, at 20 to 25 fathoms, they are said to be common in the 4J^- 

 inch nets off Gore Bay in the North Channel (record 35). During September,. 

 1917, off Alpena, bloaters were brought in not infrequently from the 4^-inch gangs 

 in 15 to 24 fathoms. The total number of fish taken from these gangs on these dates 

 was not great, but the relative number of the species taken by them at various depths 

 is significant. For example, at 24 fathoms (record 12) 52 specimens were taken; at 

 16 to 20 fathoms (record 7) 19 specimens; at 17 fathoms (records 19 and 20) 20 and 

 3 specimens; at 15 to 17 fathoms (record 9) 4 specimens; and at 15 fathoms (record 

 13) 2 specimens. An unknown number of specimens was caught in the 4^-inch 

 nets off Alpena on September 16, 1919, in 20 to 30 fathoms, and on July 10, 1923,, 

 in 14 to 20 fathoms (records 23 and 29). The data in this paragraph receive addi- 

 tional significance when the captures of the special l^-inch nets referred to on page 

 463 are considered. The set made off Cheboygan in 35 fathoms captured bloaters 

 abundantly. Off Presque Isle Light, Mich., in 60 fathoms, only 112 specimens were 

 taken, which under the conditions of the set indicates few fish in that area; and in 

 Georgian Bay off Wiarton, in 15 fathoms, only 25 fish were gilled, likewise indicat- 

 ing a rarity of the species. The results in the last-named case may have been influ- 

 enced by the presence of alpense, which had been spawning on the grounds. 



