FISHERIES OE LAKE ONTARIO. 
189 
Regarding the spawning habits, it can be said, that in spring the fish are observed 
to resort to the shallow portions of the lake and. also to ascend creeks for the purpose 
of depositing their eggs. The favorite grounds appear to be around the shores and 
islands in the eastern end of the lake, the same -region which is frequented by the 
wliitefish. A f ather important fact that bears upon the question of migration of ale- 
wives to and from the Gulf of St. Lawrence is that almost every winter greater or less 
numbers of the fish are seen through the ice and on the ice banks which form in the 
lake. The fishermen, as a ride, regard the alewives as permanent inhabitants of these 
waters and think that the fish retire into the deepest portions of the lake during the 
cold weather. Fish only 1 or 2 inches long have been seen in March at Oswego and 
elsewhere. On the other hand, inquiries among fishermen and others at Ogdens- 
burg elicited information tending to show that at that point at least there is a. well- 
marked migration up the river toward Lake Ontario in June and down the stream in 
the fall. The fish are caught in considerable numbers in nets along the Canadian 
shore, and in many places are peddled through the country and sold for food. The 
greatest quantities are taken below the rapids, where the fish always appear to be 
more numerous than elsewhere in the river. 
Mr. Charles H. Strowger, of Nine-Mile Point, Monroe County, New York, com- 
municates some interesting observations on the spawning condition of alewives 
examined by him at that place in the spring of 1892. He says : 
The ice did. not leave the shore at Nine-Mile Point until the first week in April. A few full-grown 
alewives were east ashore together with a number of small ones ranging from to 2£ inches in length. 
This was on April 9. The fish were fat and apparently healthy, and about half of the full-grown ones 
had spawn matured; no males noticed. April 17 — Picked up fifteen grown alewives on the beach 
varying from 5J to 6£ inches in length from the nose to the insertion of the tail fin. Several small 
ones were also present. They were fat, with no signs of disease visible. The spawn in the females 
was ripe except in one instance, and in most of them the spawn was running. Two were males, but 
in neither of them was the milt mature. April 18 — Took from a gill net with l^-inch mesh sixteen 
live alewives, largest 8J inches long, more only 6 inches long. Of these, nine had spawn running, five 
were immature, and two were males with milt not ripe. These fish were all in fine condition, with 
flesh plump and firm. Ap ril 28 — Have caught only yellow perch since the 18th until this morning, 
when I took up a single alewife. Its spawn was running. Since the yellow perch has appeared here 
(to spawn) the alewife has left the shore. 
Owing to the new fish laws of this State, it will be difficult to make a very thorough study of 
our shore fish, as the law now prohibits netting within a mile of the shore. What few fish I have 
examined give me the impression that alewives spawn rather earlier than perch. 
Viewed from tlie economic standpoint, the alewife is no doubt a more important 
fish than is generally believed among the fishing interests and should not be regarded 
as altogether a pest. Used as bait in the trawl-line fishery for sturgeon and trout it 
is a valuable fish and takes the place of other fish that are of more importance as food 
species, notably young ciscoes and suckers. The young also constitute a prominent 
bait in the sport fishing which is so extensive on this lake. 
When washed up on the shores, or when caught and treated like menhaden, they 
form a valuable fertilizer, and many tons are utilized annually by the farmers living 
adjacent to the lake; although it should be said that in most localities the washing 
ashore of dead alewives is not favorably regarded, and unless measures are takeu to 
bury or haul off the fish they become public nuisances. At one time a small factory 
was operated in the eastern end of the lake for the purpose of utilizing the abundant 
