FISHERIES OF LAKE ONTARIO. 
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feet deep. Other soundings of 600 feet and over are numerous in that portion of the 
lake south of the international boundary, opposite that part of the State of New York 
between Eochester and Oswego, at distances varying from 7 to 15 miles from the shore. 
No water of this depth occurs in the Canadian portion of the lake. The deep water 
approaches nearest to the shore opposite the eastern county line of Monroe County; 
here, at a distance of a little less than 7 miles from the shore, the depth of water is 636 
feet. 
A favorable feature of the lake, so far as fish are concerned, is the varying charac- 
ter of the bottom. Some of the most important of the lake fishes are bottom feeders, 
and the quantity and variety of small animal and vegetable organisms which comprise 
the food of these species largely depend on the nature of the bottom. That portion of 
the lake north of a line drawn west from Stony Point is characterized by a rocky and 
sandy bottom ; the remaining part is mostly muddy, with small areas of sand and clay. 
It would be extremely interesting to know to what extent the distribution and move- 
ments of such bottom feeders as the whitefish, herring, and sturgeon are influenced by 
the nature of the bottom. 
PRESENT AND PAST CONDITION OF LAKE ONTARIO FISHERIES. 
The following tables, which relate to the year 1890, present the salient features 
of the fisheries of the lake and show the extent of the industry in each county. 
The first table gives the number of persons engaged in the fisheries in different 
capacities. The use of vessels has never been a prominent feature of the fisheries of 
this lake, and in 1890 only 11 men were employed on vessels. The wholesale trade in 
fish, which has a very intimate connection with the fisheries proper and is included in 
the statistics so far as the personnel and capital are concerned, gave employment to 
22 persons. The shore fisheries, prosecuted from boats and from the shore, had the 
services of 356 men. Jefferson County, at the extreme eastern end of the lake, had 172 
persons engaged in the fisheries, a greater number than in any other two counties com- 
bined. Oswego County ranked second in the number of fishermen, with 62, followed by 
Niagara, with 54. Cayuga and Orleans Counties had 15 and 17 respectively. 
The number and value of vessels and boats, the quantity and value of apparatus, 
and the amount of cash capital and shore property employed in the fisheries of Lake 
Ontario are shown in the next table. The total investment in the industry was 
$123,533, of which sum Jefferson County is to be credited with $95,208, a circumstance 
illustrating the great relative importance of the fisheries in that county. The three 
vessels employed were valued at $9,585, and the 373 boats were worth $21,577. The 
most important forms of apparatus were the trap nets and pound nets, of which 288 
were operated, valued at $24,577. Grill nets with a combined length of 1,103,945 feet, 
worth $18,110, were employed, and constituted the next prominent apparatus. 
The quantity and value of each important species taken in 1890 are shown in 
the third table. The aggregate catch was 3,446,448 pounds, for which the fishermen 
received $124,786. The species of which the greatest quantity was caught were the 
cisco and the other minor varieties of whitefish classed in the tables under the gen- 
eral name of herring, but both pike perch and sturgeon yielded larger returns than the 
herring. The output in Jefferson County was much in excess of that of all the other 
