The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-01
BAD FOR THE CAVIAR TRADE.
Lake or tho woods sturgeon Growias Rapidly
Benrcer.

Benrcer.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, July'31.-The man who
must have caviar In his sandwich will be likely
to pay moro for It In q very short time, or DO
willing TO get less of the ishy paste between
his slices of bread. Fishermen In the Lake of
tho Woods country, whenco most Of the West
ern caviar now comes, say they never have had
such Ill luck rs this year., and thoy fear the
runs of sturgeon are growing less. Hardly n fish
company on tho Lake Of the Woods has made
expenses this year from its caviar trade. and
of all the private fishermen, and hundreds Of
them are about tho lake, only two or three have
met with success.
Tho opening Of the Lake of the Woods to the
fishing industry n few years ago has caused the
development Of an enormous caviar trade, and
the centre Of the industry, which used to be In
Now Jersey, has been moved westward. In
deed, tho output Of the Lake Of tho Woods
flsherles-.is now 80 large that It rules the mar.
kots Of the world. Before this year there has
been no appreciable diminution In the supply.
but the extravagant methods Of the fishermen
and the lack of intelligence as to tho future sup
ply. as well as the fact that caviar itself is tho
eggs Of tho sturgeon. arc making havoc with
tho fisheries. Three large American fish COM
the little northwest angle"-that bit OF Cam
ada that the northern boundary takes near the
| WBSt6Iu Gnu VI "lnhooOlh- bOsluob b0NOEul
smaller Canadian compsnies. The American
companies are the Sandusky, the Minnesota,
and the baltimore, and all are under The same
houses = palm Boats, net supplies. and several
hundred fishing boats, all valued at nearly
Of ,pickerel. whitcfsh, bass, ~jackfsh, and other
Varieties arc caught for market, and the water
being very cold anu the lake some 1900 square
miles in extent, the fish are as solid and good
nf iona r narEad In iCR and Hhinnnh without
freezing to the markets Of the Central West
eastern Ohio, and the markets Of St. Louis and
Kansas City are largely supplied from this
Caviar Is the surgeons eggs handled BY
some method supposed to be known only to the
Germans and Russians. The cggs, aftcr being
taken from the fish here, are packed in kegs,
Atlantic, whence they soon return in little kegs
witt foreign labels. The fish are caught entire,
ly by nets and average from 1870 to 800 ponnd1
each. The roe sturgeon arc worth from Ss TO
70 each, andcthe male. fish only about $l.5O;
4 few years ago the males wcrc not saved. and
the f so1h OF the . females w was m thrown a asid eot e@'
this trade having become a considerable factoI
in the business; Nearly every part OF the hsf
oil isnf for! harness. gh Sa Ieas IS Is % prsssea tnt fqo lert thu fns
and the flesh is chilled and eaten. Ono roe
sturgeon will furnish one-third to one-fourth OF
and worth $40. Tho flesh Of the fsh bring
from 4 TO 8 cents q pound In the markets.
Not many years ago the fshermen Of this
geon because they were 30 destructive TO othe!
fish. Now the Eastern waters arc well hshet
out, and this year even the Lake OF the Woods
has shown a marked scarcity. Fishing com
panics are exploring other and more distant
lakes, and the far waters OF the northern boun
commercial! fishermen, who have erected grca
stations on lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba.