Fishery bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service - NOAA

318 FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1038
1939 -v
TABLE 3.—Production of whitefiah in pounds according to gear in the State of Michigan waters of
Lake Huron, 1989-1939
Year
Large-mesh
gill net
í 489,961
\ (33.6)
/ 613,752
1 (21.3)
í 619,515
\ (15.0)
/ 385,566
1 (9.5)
í 269,271
I (8.1)
( 189,701
1 (7.4)
1 132,789
1 (7.0)
í 88,951
1 (6.2)
f 49,937
i (4.9)
í 55,677
\ (10.0)
í 41,072
l (16.1)
( 266,927
\ (12.4)
[Percentages of annual yield in parentheses]
Deep trap
net
Production in gear
87,121
(6.0)
871,321
V (30.3)
2,079,596
(50.2)
2,764,317
(68.2)
2,704,576
(81.1)
2,061,483
(80.3)
1,487,342
(78.5)
1,166,707
(80.9)
834,164
(81.9)
423,073
(75.8)
178,517
(70.0)
1,332,565
(62.1)
Pound
net
823,696
(56.6)
1,302,586
(45.2)
910,940
(22.0)
569,698
(14.1)
305,229
№.2)
258,207
(10.0)
172,280
(9.1)
127,100
(8.8)
107,221
(10.5)
58,813
(10.5)
28,911
(11.3)
424,062
(19.8)
Other
55,590
(3.8)
91,781
(3.2)
'529,721
(12.8)
'330,753
(8,2)
54,825
(1.6)
58,842
(2.3)
102,396
(5.4)
59,411
(4.1)
27,359
(2.7)
20,406
(3.7)
6,683
(2.6)
121,615
(5.7)
Total
annual
production
1,456,368
2,879,440
4,139,772
4,050,334
3,333,901
2,568,233
1,894,807
1,442,169
1,018,681
557,969
255,183
2,145,169
Increase
or
decrease
1 Л considerable portion of this catch, entered in the original records under the heading, "Gear unknown," was taken by deep trap nets.
-12,433
1,423,072
1,260,332
—89,438
—716,433
—765,668
—673,426
—452,638
^423,488
—460,712
-302,786
It cannot be concluded that all of the production of deep trap nets represented
additional demands on the whitefish stock of Lake Huron or that an increase in yield
would not have taken place after 1929 without the operation of this gear. Substantial
increases occurred in the production of whitefish by both gill nets and pound nets in
1930, and the 1931 catch in these gears was above the 1929 level. Unquestionably the
output of gill nets and pound nets would have been even higher in 1930 and 1931 and
the subsequent decline in production in those two gears would have been less rapid had
not considerable numbers of fishermen abandoned the use of gill nets and pound nets
in favor of the much more efficient deep trap net. On tHe other hand, the fact that
deep trap nets produced more whitefish in every year of the 5-year period, 1931-1935,
than did all gears combined in 1929, and did so, as will be shown later (p. 330) in the
face of a rapid decline in abundance after 1931, suggests that this gear possesses capabilities
for the capture of whitefish far greater than can be attributed to either gill nets
or pound nets. (Superiority of deep trap nets over pound nets is due largely to the
greater range of fishing depths of the former. See pp. 331 and 332.) Although the
deep trap net cannot be held to be solely responsible for the increase in production that
took place after 1929, the conclusion is justified, nevertheless, that the increase would
have been much smaller had this gear not been fished.
The superiority of the deep trap net for the capture of whitefish is indicated
strongly by the speed with which it replaced other gears. In 1929 deep trap nets accounted
for only 6.0 percent of the total yield of whitefish in Lake Huron. Two years
later in 1931 they took more than half the total and by 1933 were responsible for more
than 80 percent of the catch. Deep-trap-net production as a percentage of the total
yield fluctuated about the 80-percent level for 5 years (1933-1937) and declined only
with the virtual collapse of the fishery in 1938 and 1989.
The deep trap net became at some time the dominant gear for the capture of
.