The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-12-10
Fish Catching and Fish Culture.

One of the fish commissioners of the
state Of Ohio has written au interesting
letter to the Cincinnati Gazette in re-
gard to the Sandusky fisheries and arti-
fetal fish breeding in the Michigan
hstcherIcs, from which We have con-
densed the material for this article.
Sandusky is the commercial center OF
tue fisheries Of the southwestern portion
of Lake Erie. These are rated as the
most extensive fresh water fisheries in
the world. -Four hundred fish pounds
send their products to Sandusky. The
pounds cost from one thousand to seve'
raj thousands each. They are stationary
nets attached to permanent fixtures in
the lake, and these nets remain in the
| water from the commencement to the
close of the season. A short time since
one pound drew over four tons and a
nei9hboring pound drew over five tons
Of fish, chiefly whitetish.
The product of white fish, the most
delicious fish caught in the lake, was
the heaviest this year of any during the
past sixteen years. This is accounted
for by the fact that unusual hauls have
been made of sturgeon, pike, musca-
lOnge, various species Of bass, perch
and other natural enemies Of the white
fish, which have enabled the latter 10
increase and multiply in comparative
security. The sturgeon, especially, is
an enemy of the whitetish, and until
within Il few years has been considered
u valueless fish, unworthy the molesta.
ton of the fishermen; but at present
every portion OF them is utilized. The
sturgeon roe is manufactured into Ca
WAR;" a delicacy much in use on the
continent of Europe and on board the
Atlantic steamers. The flesh is dri d
smoked" and shipped west" (irou
New York; as smoked halibut, etc
Thus the permanent depletion f a
least one of the enemies OF tho whitefs}
is assured.
The autumn fishings yield more strict
~ lake or deep water fish than the
spring; in the spring time the pond anC
marsh fish are most abnLdantly taker
in the pounds. The spring fishings re-
turn to Sandusky from 1000 to 2,00(
tons Of fish. while the fall tishingt
range from ,about 5000 to 1000 tons.
The preparation of white fish for the
market is thus described {:
White fish and "herring"-a species
of white tish-when landed in the ware
house are laid side by side to the nun.
Der of thirty or forty on racks, and
placed ia a freezing apparatus which is
made on a scale sufficiently large to
freeze several tons Mt once. Twenty.
four hours are required to freeze them
as hard as ice itself ut the expiration
of that time they are taken out of the
refrigerator and stored away in rooms
kept below the freezing point until win
ter aud early spring, and are shipped tc
supply inland markets in this frozen
state. The freezing apparatus is pa,
tented, l I'M told. A large proportion
of the fish landed at Sandusky are pack.
ed in ice and shipped at once to inland
markets-a portion are placed in the
refrigerator but the largest, especially
the whitefsh, are eviscerated, sailed
and shipped as salt fish.
On the correspondents way to Detroit
to inspect the Michigan hatcheries, he
found a half-acre reserve, in the Detroit
river, into which Mr.. j. P. Clark, OF
Detroit, empties the catch of several
seines, and thus has live and fresh fish
at command any day in the year.