488 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



again heavy, and the fish are caught until the nets are blown out. On March 2, 

 1921, small herring were taken occasionally among the bloats by the lj^-inch gill 

 nets set 14 miles NNW. in 26 fathoms and in the 23^-inch nets lifted on March 4, 

 1921, 15 miles NW. by N. y 2 N. in 28 fathoms (records 22 and 23). Numbers of 

 herring have not been recorded by me at greater depths in Lake Michigan; the 

 presence of the fish at such depths may have been due to stormy conditions, which 

 usually obtain in March. In that case the records, in all probability, could be 

 duplicated out of any port where no ice is formed in winter. The pound nets are 

 set at Grand Haven, Mich., about April 10, according to Mr. Mieras and Johannes 

 Fischer, in 16 to 20 feet on sand. Herring are present at once and continue on the 

 grounds during May and June. None are taken thereafter, because the pounds are 

 pulled by September. However, Mr. Mieras does set gill nets for the white perch 

 during September and October at depths of 6 to 15 fathoms, but he gets very few 

 herring in them, although the mesh is suitable for their capture. At Manistee, 

 Mich., the spring behavior of the herring, as reported by Peter and Hans Petersen, 

 is like that recorded for Grand Haven. The Petersens do not fish herring in the fall. 

 The accounts given for Northport, Mich., by Hans Anderson and Carl Schrader and 

 for Traverse City, Mich., by Will Hopkins, Otto and Doner West, and Floyd Stiles 

 are virtually the same as those recorded for Port Washington. The Northport 

 fishermen and Mr. Hopkins say they have known the herring to remain along the 

 shores under the ice in the bay. At Seul Choix, Mich., they appear to stay a little 

 later than at any of the places so far mentioned, and Alex Goudreau says they are 

 taken frequently in the pounds through July. Seul Choix is farther north than any 

 of these pUces, and the water conditions may be slightly different. 



Data on summer occurrence. — Except in Green Bay (and here only since about 

 1910), no herring are taken when they leave the shoals in spring. In Green Bay 

 they certainly occur abundantly at depths of 11 to 16 fathoms in August. They 

 were being taken in commercial quantities by gill netters between Green Island and 

 Little Sturgeon on August 16, 1920, at these depths (records 1 and 2). A lift made 

 on August 18, 1920, 4 miles west of Boyer Bluff near the outlet of Green Bay, in 18 to 

 24 fathoms (record 5), took about half herring and half hoyi, and most of the former 

 were at the 18-fathom end of the gang. Specimens were collected from a similar 

 gang lifted on August 18, 1920, 7 miles NNW. of Boyer Bluff in 11 fathoms (record 

 6), but it is not known how abundant herring were in this lift. The only other summer 

 records that indicate that herring may have been abundant on the grounds in question 

 were made off the northwest end of St. Martin's Island at the mouth of Green Bay 

 on August 19, 1920, in 14 fathoms on rock bottom (record 10), and on August 11, 

 1920, 13 miles SE. Yi E. of Manistique, Mich., in 20 fathoms on sand (record 41). 

 On both occasions herring (mostly individuals under 200 millimeters in length) were 

 caught rather commonly in the 43^-inch trout nets by becoming ensnarled in their 

 meshes. A few also were caught in the same manner on August 18 and 19, 1920, 

 5 miles west and 3 miles WNW. of Boyer Bluff in 20 to 24 fathoms on rock bottom 

 (records 7 and 8) . Other data collected in summer show a few stragglers in the pound 

 nets in Grand Traverse Bay (Barrow's Harbor) on July 19 and 26, 1923 (records 

 38 39, and 40), in 5 fathoms, a few in the lj^-inch gill nets set in 4 to 16 fathoms 

 off Lee's Point on July 25, 1923 (records 34 and 36), and a single specimen seined 



