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Common Whitefish — Part 3
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The general run of the whitefish taken in Lake Erie ranges from about 11/2 to 5 or 6 pounds, but seldom exceeds 4 or 5 pounds. This applies to all parts of the lake, but the average size may differ more or less in different places or in the catch by different kinds of apparatus. The species, however, attains a weight of 12 pounds and more, and some have been reported weighing as high as 20 pounds, but these extreme sizes are now practically extinct. Individuals weighing 8 or 9 pounds are considered very large for Lake Erie at the present time.
It has been impossible to ascertain satisfactorily the average size of the fish in the catch of any one fishery. In several fares landed by the gillnet tugs at Dunkirk in August, 1894, the average by actual weight was found to be between 2 1/2 and 3 pounds, only a very small number weighing as low as 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 pounds, while the largest weighed about 5 pounds. According to the statements of the fishermen, the average weight on the platform ranges all the way from 2 1/2 to 4 pounds, these figures, which are only estimates, being based in part upon the poundnet and in part upon the gillnet catch.
The dealers would prefer to handle no whitefish weighing less than about 1 1/2 pounds, and some would place the minimum size suitable for market as high as 2 pounds.
From the observations of fish-culturists, the smallest fish from which eggs may be obtained on this lake weigh from 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. In that event the general catch of whitefish on Lake Erie may be expected not to include immature fish, and the minimum size desired for market would about correspond with their earliest mature size, 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. It is questionable, however, especially in the case of a rapidly decreasing product, whether its extensive capture in the first year of maturity should be allowed.
It is claimed by some that very large quantities of immature whitefish are caught in certain places, but the evidence in respect to that matter lacks confirmation. According to the testimony, comparatively few whitefish weighing under 1 1/2 pounds reach the platform, the number being somewhat larger in the spring than in the fall, but at no time great enough to make their capture a question for serious consideration. Nothing is definitely known regarding the general distribution and habits of the young, but they are supposed to remain chiefly in the deep waters of the lake. Many are reported to be taken in the herring gillnets in that region, and also in the poundnets on some parts of both the north and south shore, but the men actually concerned in those fisheries deny that the quantity is ever excessive. The subject is important and should be further investigated.
As far as known the habits of the common whitefish in other lakes do not differ from those of Lake Erie, and the decrease in the catch in other waters has been proportionally great.
The spawning habits of whitefish confined in pens have been observed. The fish rise to the surface, occasionally in pairs, sometimes, but rarely, in trios of 1 female and 2 males, the female emitting a quantity of spawn at each rise. The males, always the smaller fish, persistently follow the female and discharge milt at the same time the eggs are emitted.
Whitefish reach maturity in the 3d or 4th year. A full-grown individual deposits from 10,000 to 75,000 eggs, depending on the fish's size. A rule for determining the approximate spawning capacity is to allow about 10,000 eggs for each pound of the fish's weight. The eggs are 1/8 of an inch in diameter, and 36,000 make a fluid quart.
In nature the eggs of the whitefish are subjected to the at-attacks of many enemies for nearly 5 months. The mud-puppy, commonly known as "lizard" or "water-dog" by the people along the lakes, is especially destructive. During the month of January, 1897, many of these animals were pumped up with the water supply of the Put-in-Bay station. The stomachs of a considerable number of them contained whitefish and cisco eggs, the contents of 1 stomach being 288 whitefish eggs and 4 cisco eggs.
Another voracious destroyer of whitefish eggs is the common yellow perch (Perca flavescens). The deck of a boat has been covered with the eggs of the whitefish and cisco pressed out of the stomachs of perch taken from gillnets the last of November on the reefs, where they had gone to feed on the eggs.
The various smaller Cyprinidae and some other fishes, crawfish and wild fowl make the eggs of fishes a considerable portion of their diet, those which require the longest period in hatching, of course, suffering most.