The times., 1899-09-24
CANADIAN cAvIARE-
Most of This Country's supply Comeg
From the Lake of the Woods.

(From the Toronto Globe.)
An important industry and one little
known of in the East is the fishing indus
try of the Lake of the Woods; yet the fish
production of the lake has reached i'm
mense proportions, and is proving an i'm
portant factor in the prosperity of the dis
trict. One fact that is not commonly
known is that from the Lake of the Woods
comes nearly all the cayiare consumed in
the American markets. 1t is Russian ca
Ware to the general public, but it is only
Lake OF the Woods caviare bearing Con
tinental label, and exporters of the article
state that only the inferior grades find
their way back to this country, for the
best OF 1t goes to the tables of European
epicures.
The Lake of the Woods has total area
of over six thousand square miles, and its
waters abound with fish of all kinds. The
most important fish in the lake are the
sturgeon, and it is these TO which the
fishermen devote the most attention. They
range in weight up to It's and occas. .onally
200 pounds apiece, and sell in car lots at
about cents a pound. The sturgeon are
10 be met with in all parts of the lake, but
the most prolific stretches of water are in
the southern portions of the lake, where
the water is shallow and the bottom san
dy. There are the surgeons feeding
grounds. Several seasons ago the water
in the lake was higher than usual, and
much of the low-iying ground surro- ndng
the shore lines was flooded. The sturgeon
followed the overflow, finding new feeding
places in the shoal water, and they thus
evaded the nets, and the fishermen had
poorer returns for their labor. The at
tention paid to the sturgeon, however, is
resulting badly to the fish, and experts
say that unless measures are taken sho t
ly TO reduce the take of sturgeon the fish
will be eXterminated, so far as commercial
purposes are concerned.
The cayiare is the chief product of the
sturgeon and to it the most attention is
paid. After the fish is killed and the head
is cut off it is carefully cleaned, the
caviare being SET aside in tanks When the
catch has been disposed of the cayiare is
then taken and washed repeatedly, until il
is thoroughly clean, after which it is rub
bed by hand through a series OF screens
until all the eggs are separated. That is
all the process necessary. 1t is packed Ill
100 pound kegs with a salt specially import
ed from Germany, and kept in cold storage
until the time for shipment arrives, when
it is sent TO London, Eng, and to Germany.
number of experiments have been made
with Canadian and American salts, but so
far they have not proved so good as the salt
brought from over the ocean. On arriving
in Europe the kegs are opened and the cav
iare is sorted out according TO quality. II
is then put UP in small lead packages and
tins and sold as Russian caviare. Then the
best grades find ready sale in the old
country, where they command the highest
prices. The Canadian caviare is as good,
and in many instances better than the
Russian cayiare, and no difficulty is found
in disposing of il. The inferior grades are
reshipped TO America, where the demand
and appetite for caviare is not so exacT1ng
as in Europe. Here too, it is known as
Russian caviare. In this respect it much
resembles the California champagne which
is sent TO France in bulk, where it is bot
tied and shipped across the Atlantic again
10 tickle the palates of thirsty Americans
who have a weakness for French wines.
The proper way TO eat caviare is given as
! follows: Toasted brown bread thinly but
tered over which is spread a layer of the
caviare, on that is just a little grated onion,
with lemon juice over the whole.
Up to a few years ago all the eaviare
sold in the Lake of the Woods country
passed through the hands of American
commission houses, and their profits were
consequently a loss to the local fishermen,
but now the latter deal direct with the Eu-
ropean eayiare men. The price paid for
| caviare has been steadily increasing each
year Last year ii was from so to 90 cents
pound, and it is understood that the fish
ermen have been offered in advance much
higher figure for their entire production
| for this season. Two years ago the price
was only 80 cents a pound. The caviare
| little more than doubles the value of
| the sturgeon, and as the latter brings in
| to the fishermen from cent. to a cent
and a half to two cents pound more than
! the ordinary scale fish, its value TO the
| toilers of this island can be appreciated.
In view of the heavy profits which have
to be paid in shipping out the fish it is
doubtful if the industry could be carried
on successfully if the catching of sturgeon
was prohibited.
The following table shows the catch of
sturgeon and the production of caviare
| from the American waters of the Lake of
| the Woods:
Pounds. Pounds Pounds.