Michipicoten Island

Virtually landlocked, Quebec Harbour on the south shore of the island became a strategic base of operations for regional fisheries. Men from the Hudson's Bay Company post at Michipicoten River were dispatched here for the fall fishing. In 1871 permanent buildings were erected by T. Griffiths and Co. and fishermen overwintered to take advantage of the late fall and early spring seasons. The site may have been operated by Chicago-based A. Booth Packing Company (later Booth Fisheries Co.). Established in 1848 by Alfred Booth, it acquired a lease to Crown Land on the south side of Quebec Harbour around 1860 but due to a title dispute moved to the north side in 1905. The Ganley brothers. managers of the Dominion Transportation Line, ran a passenger boat between Sault Ste. Marie and Quebec Harbour. In the 1920s, the Booth Fisheries enterprise began to decline, reportedly due to poor management, and in 1934 its eastern Lake Superior interests and two tugs were sold to James Purvis and Son, Ltd. of Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island. A successful business was built by son Ivan through exploitation of new grounds, such as Superior Shoal, and opening of diverse markets. At its peak, 40 employees and families were stationed at the island, and the company held four tug licenses for a total of 220,000 m of gill net. It was sold in 1959 to Ferroclad Fisheries of Mamainse on Lake Superior's eastern shore. ==Woodland caribou==

Michipicoten Island played host to an indigenous caribou population until the herd's extirpation, as a result of overhunting, in the mid-1800s. In 1981, a lone male caribou was observed on the island; how it arrived there remains unknown. From the time of these relocations to 2001, the herd population increased at \lambda=1.18 to arrive at approximately 160 animals in 2001. A population determination performed in 2011 concluded that the herd had grown to 680 animals. At times, the rate of population growth was among the fastest ever recorded for caribou. In the winter of 2014, four wolves transited to Michipicoten Island. This was facilitated by an ice bridge which had formed between the island and the mainland. The wolf population had more than tripled by the winter of 2016/2017. The 2017/2018 wolf population count was anticipated to reveal approximately 20 wolves present on the island. The decline in the caribou population as resulting from the presence of the wolves has raised the concern that the caribou population is in danger of extirpation The caribou population of Michipicoten Island is scientifically significant because it manifests an opportunity to apply A. T. Bergerud's proposed test to assess the viability of the range hypothesis versus the predation hypothesis A pack of eight of the wolves were translocated to Isle Royale in 2018. == See also ==