The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1911-03-11
WHITffISH ALSO
GETTING SCARCE
AR-slGHTEp FISHERMEN BE-
LlEvE GOVERNMENT SHOULD
PAY MORE ATTENTION
TO RESTOCKING.

.
enough to look into the future depore
the rapid and continuous depletion of
whitefish in Lake Superior and are adj
lyocating more aggressive restocking on
the part of state and national fish |
hatcheries. According to reports from
the 500. the Canadian government Is
about To take up the planting of white
fish on a larger scale than heretofore
and there is probability that the
whtefsh will come into its own again,
as far as the Canadian fishermen are
concerned. once the international fish
ing regulations are i'm force, IL is the
opinion of Marquette fishermen that
the United States government will al
so pay more attention to restocking
, the lakes with whitefish than hereto
fore.
why this species of fish is being al
lowed to die out is not known to the
{ fishermen unless it is because the i'm
Iportance of the whitefish industry and
the food value of the fish have not
been brought to the attention of the
bureaus of fisheries as forcibly as they
: might be. In Chicago and other large
American cities, whitefsh weighing
four and IA half pounds and over are
in great demand for hotels and res
: taurants. to be served as planked
: whitehsh, and it is said that as high
1 as $25 per 100 pounds wholesale is paid
. for them. Smaller sized fish sell from
So to $17 per hundred pounds.
Results in Lake Erie.
In recent years Lake Erie has shown
a gain i'm the catch of whitefish. The
= catch in late years has increased from
q 300 to 400 per cent while in the same
I period the catch of whitefish in the
e Georgian bay, the Manitoulin island
G district and Lake Superior has de-
7 creased 400 per cent. In Lake Superior
e the catch amounted to 97S,4OO pounds
e in 1890, and in 1908 to only 362,5s7
e pounds. In Lake Ontario as many as
o 10000 whtefsh were caught in sin
Il gle haul of the seine in 1861, and one
v haul of $500 is recorded in 1856.
,e In the last ten years the average
II yearly catch in the same lake has been
It less than 100000. The Canadian fish
ie cries shows that in 1890 there were
caught out of Georgian bay. on the
northern part of Lake Huron, 5,19S,OOC
pounds of fish. and in 1909 only 1,15O,-
900 pounds, a decrease of 4,O4S,OOC
pounds per year, which at ten cents
per pound means a loss in revenue OF
- over 100000.
The ease with which whitefish car
be propagated in shown by the fac
that a three pound female fish viii
:" produce $4,000 eggs, while a salmon
trout will produce only 3,400, and
British Columbia salmon $500. Th'
" salmon trout, it is pointed out, canno
well be depleted because IL swims high
seeking flies and other insects, and Il
:, driven by storm to a depth of from
- 100 70 500 feet.
- The salmon trout do not swim II
:" schools, will not follow a leader ant
cannot be caught in pound nets. More
!. over. they will devour the whitefish
~ The salmon trout do not bring nearl!
20 as high a price as the whitefish, so tn
-. fishermen think the government shoul'
devote funds for the propagating o
the whitefish rather than the salmon
An authority can be quoted to shoV
that IL Is a mistake to propagate sal
mon trout in lakes where whiteflsh ar
abundant.
Little Restocking Done.
In 1890 the five great lakes produce
100000 whitefish. the catching o
!, which involved the loss of possibly 36,
;, 600, OO0, 900 eggs, as it probably takes
"a whiteflsh four or five years to come I
-. maturity. During the last twenty year
-, fishermen took out 30,000O00 white
&c fish, causing the loss of prabably tw
~, or three trillion Of eggs. and during Tn
past forty years it is said that tn
-. whitefish fry put in all the great lake
-. did not exceed 100000. During tn
- past eight years form four to four an
half million fry have been place
yearly i'm Lake Ontario. but in this wa
.ho the progeny of less than 200 white
la fish.
In the southern part Of Lake Huro
- during ten years the yearly deposit
~ whitefsh fry did not exceed II
a.. progeny of 500 fish. while in Georgia
~ bay. the northern part of Lake Huro
and Lake Superior but little more hs
,oa been done. In these waters in te
-, years the fishermen have caught IL
., 600. 900 whitefsh, causing a loss
500. 900, OOO 900 of eggs while the white
. fish fry deposited in the same tin
- represented a progeny of 1000 white
fish.
The fishermen say that II the go'
eminent would propagate 2OO,OOo,O
whitefish fry in each of the great lax
in a few years the whitefish would
n again so numerous that closed seas'
III would be unnecessary. The cost IL
| said, would be less than $50 per mi
lion fry. while salmon trout, wor
| half the money, cost $1,000 a million.
is his idea that only the names