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F
ISSUED BY AUTHORITY
/O
PAPERS OF THE CONFERENCES
Held in connection with
m^e Gl^f ^^I^^OJ\^J^
THE
FISHERIES OF CANADA
BY
L. Z. JONCAS
LONDON
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited
INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION
AND 13 CHARING CROSS, S.W^
PRICE SIXPENCE
■IPiM
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International Fisheries Exhibition
\
LONDON. 1883
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THE
FISHERIES OF CANADA
^1
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L. Z. JONCAS
LONDON
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited
INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION
AND 13 CHARING CROSS, S.W.
18S3
Hi
International Fisheries Exhibition^
LONDON, 1883.
Conference on Monday, July 2, 1883.
>Hon. A. W. McLelan (Minister of Marine and Fisheries
of Canada) in the chair.
In commencing the proceedings7]Ene_Chairman said Canada
was a comparatively young country and might not be
supposed to be as much interested in fisheries as some of
the older countries, and some persons who had heard of
Canada and the extent of the country and the diversity of
employments would wonder why with so sparse a population
there were any fishermen or any fisheries to speak of, when
fishing as had been shown already was so much more
dangerous and involved so much greater risk to human life
than any other occupation. It was true that they had a
large extent of country, and there was employment for all
those who were there, and for all the millions who might come
upon the land, but it was also true that although they had
mining industries and although in the north there were vast
forests from which lumber was sent to various parts of the
world, although it was true that a comparatively small portion
of the fertile soil was cultivated, yet it yielded abundance
of the choicest food in its harvests and flocks and herds for
all the people of Canada, and a large surplus to export ; and
the men who lived by the sea-side and on the banks of
the rivers and by the lakes found so great a temptation to
engage in fishing that they could not withstand it. He
[19] ^ B2
believed they had as large a proportion of their people
engaged in that occupation as any other country in the
world. In the British Isles, where population was teeming,
and every pursuit was crowded by people desiring to work
that they might have bread, a large number were engaged
in fisheries, but yet in Canada with their sparse population
there were four times the percentage engaged in fisheries as
were found here in the British Isles. Perhaps the mention
of this fact might lead some people to expect too much
from the paper which was about to be read, but as he had
said before, Canada was but a young country ; the lecturer
could not go back for centuries as Prof Huxley did in
describing the fisheries of the Mediterranean. Their grand-
sires in the maritime provinces could give almost the whole
history of the fisheries of Canada, and they told them how
important a part those fisheries played in the settlement of
the country. In those days when there were no railways,
and no steam boats, supplies of food sometimes failed, but
the settler always had something to rely upon in the fish
which were to be found in the waters in front of his
dwelling. He had heard of a good old clergyman who
was greatly shocked at finding one day his little flock
fishing on the Sunday, and insisting that the good old
practice should be followed, of gathering a double supply
of manna on the Saturday. He assumed this cause of
complaint did not now exist, for a few weeks before he
left Canada he had the pleasure of a conversation with a
clergyman visiting Ottawa from Manitoba who told him
that he had seen settlers going out in the winter cutting
a hole in the ice and dipping fish out in a basket, but he
made no mention of any desecration of the Sabbath, so
that he aseumed there was nothing to complain of in that
respect.
5
FISHERIES OF THE DOMINION OF
CANADA.
If ever I have to regret not being familiar with the
English language, it is on this particular occasion, when
I have been chosen by my brother Commissioners to tell
you something of the fisheries of me Dominion of Canada.
But my fears are useless. If indulgence is to be met with,
it is from a select audience, and I could not wish to come
before a more select one than this is.
Being born in Canada, I have for the Dominion that
affection that everybody feels for his native country. I
have faith in her future.
I would have liked to have shown you how prosperous
and flourishing she is beneath the glorious Britannic flag.
I would have been proud to trace for you the rapid pro-
gress of that colony during the last ten years ; but your
time is valuable, and some one told me that I was not
allowed to keep you here more than half an hour, and
half an hour is rather a short time to go over three oceans
and a considerable number of inland seas which are them-
selves small oceans. I will, therefore, confine my remarks
to the Canadian fisheries.
In studying the history of England, in looking over the
resources whence the greatness of this country— which we
are proud to call our mother country— has arisen ; we see
that her commerce has been the source of that greatness.
Furthermore, I may say, without fear of being contradicted,
that the fisheries of the United Kingdom have been the
basis of this commerce, and that England owes her
present naval greatness to the hardy fishermen employed
in these fisheries, and the comfort and happiness of
/
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if
vvhoni it is the object of this great International Ex-
hibition to promote.
I have certainly not the intention of comparing Canada
to England, but the fisheries of Canada can be compared
with advantage to any other fisheries in the work and
I feel proud to be able to state here, that our young
colony, following the good example of England, already
ranks the fourth amongst the maritime nations of the globe.
When we consider the thousands of miles of coast open
to the fishermen of Canada, the 60,000 hardy men who now
devote their time and their labour to the development of
our fisheries, the millions of dollars which these fisheries
produce annually, and the always increasing number of
emigrants that the old continent sends us every year, we
feel that a naval greatness is also in store for us in the
future, and we look to our fisheries, and to our fisheries
alone, as the cradle of our future naval strength.
Consequently, the public men of Canada felt a great
interest in this international exhibition, and have been
glad to take part in it in the hope to acquire an amount of
knowledge on fishery matters, which will be of value to our
fishermen in developing this great industry.
The honourable gentleman who presides at this meeting,
and whom the Canadians have placed at the head of the
Department of State devoted to our fisheries, knowing of
what vital importance they are to the future of the
Dominion, takes a great interest in all matters relating to
marine and fisheries, and not only has he recommended
the Canadian Parliament to grant as much support as
possible for carrying out the objects of this exhibition, but
leaving aside, for a while, his important duties as Minister,
he has been pleased to come here and see that the
Dominion of Canada is thorouglily represented in England.
The Dominion of Canada, bounded on the north by the
Arctic Ocean, on the cast by the Atlantic, and on the west
by the Pacific Ocean, has an area of four millions and five
hundred thousand square miles. Over that wide area are
found some of the most fertile tracts of land in the world.
Grand forests offering an immense field to the timber trade,
beds of mineral wealth that but few lands can boast of, and
rivers, lakes, and inland seas teeming with apparently
unlimited supplies of food fish. The fisherman of any
country must feel at home when he comes to a land the
waters of which yield him annually a good remuneration
for his toilsome and hazardous avocation.
The fisheries of Canada can be divided into two great
classes ; the sea fisheries, and the fresh water, or lake and
river fisheries.
The former are subdivided into the cod fishery, the
herring fishery, the mackerel fishery, the lobster fishery,
and the seal fishery. The latter comprises the salmon and
trout fisheries, the white fish fisheries, etc.
The sea fisheries are carried on specially in what we call
the maritime provinces, namely : Nova Scotia, Quebec,
New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, whilst the
provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia are
celebrated for their inland fisheries.
In the river and gulf of St. Lawrence alone, Canada
possesses more than nine hundred miles of coast, along
which are to be found, at different seasons of the year, a
greater abundance and variety of fish than in any other
part of America.
The shoals of cod-fish, mackerel, herring, etc., which
approach our shores for purposes connected with the
reproduction of their species are immense, and, I was going
to say, inexhaustible.
8
^■
k
Of all the fish named above, the cod., the mackerel, the
herring, and the lobster, have especially attracted the
attention of the fishermen of Canada.
The cod fishery being the most important and the most
valuable, the one that gives occupation to the greatest
number of men, employs the greatest number of vessels,
and produces, commercially speaking, the most advanta-
geous results^ I will give it tb6 precedence over the others.
I will direct your attention to the modes of catching and
of curing that fish, its yearly value for the Dominion, and
the different markets we send it to. The haddock {Morr-
htia aeglefiims) and the hake {Phycis Americamis) being
taken in the same waters, caught by the same means, and
cured the same way as the cod-fish, will be comprised
under the title of c«^d fishery.
The cod is so well-known everywhere that I may
dispense with giving any description of it. Let it suffice
to say that there are several kinds, of which the only one
of any consequence to Canada is the common cod {Gadus
viorrhia) which is found along the coast of the Gulf St.
Lawrence.
Speaking of tiie habits of the cod-fish I cannot do better
than to quote here the words of the Honourable Dr. P.
Fortin, M.P., now representative of the county of Gaspe^ €
in the House of Commons of Canada, who has been for
years commander of the armed schooner " La Canadicnne "
employed in the protection of our fisheries, and who is
considered an authority in this matter.
"The cod inhabits cold and temperate climates. It is
found along the coasts of Greenland, Labrador, Newfound-
land, Nova Scotia, and the United States. Everybody
has heard of the great banks of Newfoundland and of the
immense quantity of fish to be found there."
ill
" It abounds on the coasts of Iceland and Norway, visits
the coasts of Scotland, England, and Ireland, and is also
taken on the coast of France. But it does not appear to
go beyond the latitude of Gibraltar, and has not, that I
am aware of, been seen in the Mediterranean."
" The cod generally stays in the sea at a depth of from
twenty to sixty fathoms, but when the instinct of repro-
duction is felt it approaches the shores, in pursuit of the
caplin, of which it then makes its chief food, and remains
six or eight weeks in twelve, eight, and even five fathoms
of water. It is then that the taking of this fish can be, and
is, most successfully carried on."
"The cod appears on the Canadian coast at uncertain
dates, generally between the loth of May and the ist of
June, though in many instances it has made its appearance
in the latter end of the month of April. It has some
favourite spots where it is found in greater quantities.
These are the places which present the best advantages for
the preservation and hatching of the spawn."
" Having deposited its spawn the cod withdraws to the
shallow places called banks, where it finds always food in
sufficient quantity to satisfy the well-known voracity of its
appetite."
Formerly cod were found' in great quantities and taken
in abundance from Rimouski to St. Anne des Monts in
the river St. Lawrence, and as far as New Richmond and
even Carleton in the upper part of " La Baie des Chaleurs,"
but it has now almost entirely disappeared from those
places, and fishing in them had to be given up.
About the 15th of December cod-fish appear to leave
shallow soundings and the inshore banks, and go farther
out to sea.
The season for cod-fishing varies with the different
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provinces. In Quebec and Nova Scotia it is generally
from April to November. r. , .'/.',,^q.
The cod-fishery is carried on in Canada either in vessels v
of a tonnage of from 60 to 100 tons, or in open boats
similar to those that are now exhibited in the Canadian
Court.
i^The fishing in large vessels is carried on principally by
the fishermen of Nova Scotia.
Vessels employed in cod fishery are manned by from
ten to thirteen men, according to their tonnage. Generally
tre owner of the schooner, who also supplies the men
with all the necessary fishing tackle, receives half of the
fish which is caught, the fishermen retaining the other
hal£
"When the vessels have reached the fishing grounds
they are anchored, by hemp or manilla cables, in from
fifteen to fifty fathoms of water. Bait is obtained by
spreading nets in the sea at some distance from the vessel,
and the fishing is then begun with long lines, and carried
on, by night as well as by day, in spite of wind and storm,
until the hold of the vessel is filled with fish all split
and salted. Then the vessel returns to port, the cod is
landed, washed, dried and prepared for exportation " (Dr
Fortin).
In the province of Quebec fishermen carry on the cod
fishery in open boats, some of them near the coasts in the
neighbourhood of the coves and bays where they reside,
and some on the banks twenty or thirty miles from the
shore.
Those among the fishermen who have the means of
doing it, build their own boats, buy their fishing tackles,
and have the advantage either of selling their fish fresh in
the local markets, or of curing it and getting a better price
II
when it is dried , from the speculators who, in the fall, visit
every locality along the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
for the purpose of buying cod-fish.
The fisherman who has no boat of his own goes to the
capitalist who is engaged in the fishing business. This
capitalist furnishes him with a boat all equipped and ready
to go to sea, for the sum of five or seven pounds for the
fishing season, with the express and written condition that
all the fish caught by the fisherman in this boat will be
sold to the merchant who furnishes the boat. The boats
vary in dimensions, and are from eighteen to thirty feet
keel, and their breadth of. beam from six to ten feet.
They are very sheer built, and the clinker work is usually
of cedar. They are built like whale-boats, that is to say,
they are pointed at the stem as well as at the stern. Their
rigging consists generally of two sprit-sails or gaff-sails ;
some of those used to fish on the Miscou and other banks
are schooner-rigged. They are built by the fishermen
themselves, are good sailers, and behave wonderfully well
at sea, especially those from Gaspe and Cape Breton.
I " The inshore fishing is carried on with hand lines, and
the fishermen always set out for the fishing grounds at two
or three o'clock in the morning. On arriving at the place
where they expect to find fish they cast anchor ; then they
bait their hooks with fresh fish and drop their lines into the
water, each with a leaden sinker attached to it, weighing
from two to four pounds according to the depth of the
water and the force of the current."
" Each of the two fishermen who man each boat has two
lines when fishing in thirty or forty fathoms of water.
When the fishing is in ten fathoms, or less, they use four
lines each. If there arc plenty of fish, as it is often the
case in the spring, the fisherman has not a moment's rest,
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when once he has begun ; for while he is haiding up one
line the other is going down and before he has unhooked
one fish from the former another fish is fast to the latter.
The lines are always furnished with two hooks and often-
times they come up with a fish on each hook ; the fisher-
men calls this " taking a pair."
" Sometimes there is no good fishing at the first anchor-
age ; in that case the anchor is weighed and the boat is
sailed away in search of a better place. When the fish is
plentiful it is not an uncommon case to see the boats
coming ashore in the afternoon with 2000 pounds of fish,
that is 1000 for each man."
" The fishermen generally remain on the fishing grounds
until four or five o'clock in the afternoon, after which they
hasten ashore in order that the cod they bring may be split
and salted immediately, before it has time to heat or
soften " (Dr. Fortin).
The bank fishing is made with long lines which our
fishermen call " Norman lines." These lines consist of a
long and strong line of from 600 to 1200 fathoms with
hooks fastened along its whole length at regular distances
by shorter and smaller lines, called snoods. The snoods
are three feet long and are placed on the long line six feet
apart to prevent the hooks becoming entangled. At each
end of the long line is an anchor, a buoy line and a buoy,
and the line is always laid across the tide ; for if the tide
runs upon the end of the line, the hooks will become
entangled and the fishing would be totally lost.
On getting to the bank or fishing-ground, the hooks
being previously baited and the line neatly coiled in tubs,
clear for running out, one of the two fishermen who are
manning the boat sinks the line whilst the other is steering
the boat.
15
The line remains in the water from six to eight hour*-
according to the time when sunk and also to other circum-
stances, after which time it is hauled in. In certain seasons
of the year, especially in the month of September, two
fishermen in a few hours, with a line of 800 fathoms, will
take five or six thousand pounds of fish.
From the 15th of June to the 15th of October, two men
carrying on the bank fishing actively can easily take 600
quintals of cod-fish. The average quantity caught by
each boat is about 400 quintals, each quintal being worth
six shillings in the local markets.
" The months of June, July and August are the most
favourable for the cod fishery ; not only because during
that period, the air is frequently calm, there are long spells
of fine weather, and storms are more rare than at any other
time during the season, but also because it is then that
the cod-fish resorts more to the coast either to spawn or in
pursuit of the caplin or sable launce, on which it feeds,
and because these fish, which serve as bait, are then more
abundant and easier to take ; for it must be remembered
that there is no good fishing without fresh bait. The cod
is not at all partial to salt-fish, and it is only on the great
banks where the cod feeds chiefly on Crustacea and mollusca
that it bites at a line baited with salt herring or salt
caplin."
" It is therefore most essential for the fishermen to be
always provided with fresh fish for bait, and they accord-
ingly have herring, caplin and launce seines which they
make use of every morning and every evening, to provide
themselves with a sufficient quantity of little fish for the
day " (Dr. Fortin).
On every large fishing establishment, from the end of
May to the beginning of August two or three boats, each
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of them manned by seven men called seiners, are employed
day and night in going about the coast in search of the
caplin, herring and launce. Sometimes they have to go
20 and 25 miles from the establishment. When they meet
with a shoal of thcGC fish, they cast the seine, load their
boat and hasten home to distribute these little fish amongst
the fishermen belonging to the same establishment. Each
cod-fishing boat receives an equal share of the fish thus
brought by the seiner.
When the caplin and sand launce have disappeared from
the coast, or do not come near enough to the beach to be
taken by the seine, the fishermen have to go out every
evening and take herring and mackerel in drift-nets ; or
squid and other fish with hooks and lines.
Late in the fall, the only fish that can be taken for bait
is the smelt.
The fishing from the beginning of the season to the
fifteenth of August is called the summer-fishing ; what is
carried on after that date is called the autumn-fishing. All
the cod taken until the end of September is salted and
dried to be exported to foreign countries ; what is taken
from the first of October to the end of the fishing season
is salted and packed in barrels and sent to the local
markets.
Fish Curing.
Great care and attention as well as labour are required
in the preparation of cod fish for foreign countries. Before
explaining the mode in which cod fish is prepared, you will
allow me to give a short description of what constitutes a
fish-curing establishment.
Anybody wanting further explanation on this subject
can come into the Canadian Court, where six models of
ts
the most important fishing establishments of the world are
exhibited, and he will receive all possible information.
A fishing establishment generally constitutes a small
village by itself On some of them the visitor can count
no less than one hundred and twenty buildings. It is a
collection or an agglomeration of wooden buildings, some
of which serve to lodge the fishermen and other employh
of the establishment, and others to receive the fish, either in
its fresh or dried state, and to contain goods, the rigging of
fishing vessels and boats, provisions, salt, &c.
An enumeration of some of these buildings with the
name of each of them, will give you an idea of the impor-
tance and extent of these establishments.
There is first the house of the ':hicf of the establishment,
then the stage, the dried fish stores, the steam house, the
goods shop, the flour and provision store, the rope and
paint store, the pitch store, the salt store, the coal oil store,
the wharf house, the carpenters' shop, the block shop, the
coopers' shop, the iron and stores store, the forge, the
riggi"g loft, the sale loft, the joiners' shop, the mould loft,
the cookhouse, the mechanics' cook-room, the shoremen
work-shop, the fishermen cook-room, the shoremen cook-
room., the ice house, the telegraph-office, the hospital, &c.
The house of the chief of the establishment is placed in
the centre of the group of buildings, and in an elevated
position, from which he can see aU that goes on.
" The stage, which is the most important building in a
cod-fish curing establishment, is placed as near as possible
to the beach. Some establishments have four or five stages.
They are large wooden buildings measuring generally eighty
feet by fifty, at one end of which is a wharf called the
stage-head, extending far enough into the sea for boats
loaded with fish to come alongside of it at low tide. The
!
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flooring of the wharf, formed of poles of fir or spruce, is
divided into compartments, into which the fishermen, on
their arrival, with boat loads of fish, toss them one by one
with an implement called a pur."
" At the end of the stage nearest to the wharf are the
tables on which the cod is dressed. In the middle is a
passage with a level floor of strong planks, on which the
shoremen can wheel with ease their barrow loads of salt or
fresh fish. On each side are places for piles of fish, for
salt and for troughs to wash the fish in."
" In the Canadian establishments three men are employed
in the operation of dressing cod, namely, the cut throat, the
header and the splitter."
" As soon as the cod has been landed on the stage, and
put on the tables, the cut throat, armed with a two-edged
knife, seizes the fish, cuts its throat, and having opened it
down to the navel with a single stroke of his knife, passes
it to the header. The header detaches the liver, which he
throws into a barrel placed near him, and with the same
hand tears out the entrails, after which with his left hand
he cuts off the fish's head. The splitter now seizes the fisii,
and with a single stroke of his knife he removes the back
bone" (Dr. Fortin).
From the back bone of the fish is taken that delicious
arficle of food which is well known as cod-fish sounds.
These sounds are either salted, and packed in barrels and
sold in the local markets, or dried and sold to isinglass
manufacturers.
The head of the cod is salted for local consumption ; but
I regret to say that thousands of tons of entrails, offals, and
even cod-roes are yearly thrown into the sea and wasted,
whilst they could be converted into a good guano, if we had
manufacturers of this article on our coasts.
li'i
" From the hands of the splitter the cod passes into those
of the Salter, who places it on a pile, spreading it carefully
with the flesh up, and with a wooden shovel scatters a layer
of salt over each row. The Salter's art lies in putting on
each fish just salt enough to make it keep well, but not
enough to burn it."
" The cod is left piled in this way for four, six or eight
days, according to the quality of the salt. Then the fish is
carefully washed in large troughs, until all the salt is
washed off, when it is put in piles again on the stage, in
order that the moisture may drain off from it. After a day
or two, if the weather is favourable, the fish are spread out
one by one on flakes, in order that by exposure to the action
of the sun and air they may be deprived of all the water
they contain, and be reduced to that dry state in which they
may be preserved for several years even in hot climates."
The small fish is put on flakes about three feet high,
parallel to each other, with space of four feet between, to
enable the men in charge of the fish to move round them.
The large size fish, containing more water, being thicker,
and consequently more difficult to dry, is placed upon large
flakes, one hundred feet square or more, ten feet from the
ground and as much as possible built along the beach, where
the heat of the sun is always tempered with a gentle breeze
from the sea.
The first night after the fish have been put out, they are
merely turned over flesh side down ; after that they are
gathered every night into piles of twenty or thirty each, and
every morning they are spread out with the flesh up.
When sometimes about the middle of the day the sun
gets too hot, the flakes, that are fixed on a pivot, are turned
to prevent the fish from being burnt, or the fish is covered
with small fir and spruce branches.
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When there is a large quantity of fish on the flakes, the
man who, in each establishment, has the superintendence
of the operations of curing the fish, must be always on the
look out, watching the sky and looking to every part of the
horizon to see if clouds that threaten rain are gathering.
At the least appearance of rain, or of a shower, orders are
given to gather up the fish. The scene, then, is lively. The
chief agent, book-keepers, clerks, carpenters, blacksmiths,
everybody in the establishment goes to work, and when
they have done, each goes back to his own business,
satisfied and free from anxiety, for the cod, when placed in
piles with its skin up, cannot suffer from the rain, unless the
wet weather last very long.
" When the cod is sufficiently dry, large round piles of it
are made, containing as much as lOO quintals each, covered
with birch bark, and pressed with heavy stones. By the
pressure of these stones it is deprived of the little moisture
that remained in it. Before it is sent to market it is spread
out again on the ground, covered with fine gravel, during
the warm hours of one fine day to give it its ' last sunning '
or * parting-sun.' "
" In fine weather and during the dry season, when westerly
winds predominate, cod is easily cured and made of the first
quality. It is not so when easterly winds prevail and bring
upon our coast mist and rain that lasts for weeks ; our
fishermen are then in the greatest state of anxiety, and in
spite of every possible care and precaution they frequently
see the fish which it has cost them so much toil and
exposure to danger to snatch from the sea, spoiled before
their eyes, without its being in their power, by any means
whatever, to obviate the destructive effect of the dampness ;
for once the fish has been exposed upon the flakes, it can-
not be taken in the stores until it is perfectly dry."
19
It is, I think, on tlic coast of Gaspc, in tlic province of
Quebec, where the effects of the mists, generated by the
Gulf Stream are least felt, that the finest cod in all America
is cured. This is well known in the markets of Spain, Italy
and Brazil where it is generally sent. Specimens of it can
be seen in the Canadian Department of this Exhibition.
In order to guard against all risks from the weathe,
attempts have been made to dry cod artificially, but so far
it has not succeeded as well as was expected, and I am of
opinion that the agency of the sun and air are the best
that can be employed for the drying of cod-fish.
Value of the Cod Fishery, and Markets
whence our cod-fish is sent.
4
When the cod-fish is dry enough to be sent to market
as stated above, it is carefully culled. Three qualities of it
are made, the marketable, the inferior, and the " refused,"
that is, the heavy salted and broken fish.
The large marketable is sent in bulk in vessels, varying
in dimensions from lOO to 300 tons, to Spain, Italy, Portugal,
and the Mediterranean ports ; the small marketable is
generally sent to Brazil in drums, containing 128 pounds,
and the last quality is sent to the West Indies markets in
casks containing 5C0 pounds.
By the Report of Marine and Fisheries of Canada for 1881
we see that the quantity of dry fish exported that year is
1,299,340 quintals, representing a value of 5,602,250 dollars.
Besides the cod-fish, there are 245,453 pounds of cod and
hake sounds, and 333,310 gallons of cod oil, representing a
value of 225,906 dollars. Total of exports from cod fishery
5,828,156 dollars. If to that sum we add the value of
pickled fish sent to local markets and used in home con-
C 2
20
sumption, wc will have a grand total of sixteen million and
a half dollars.
Nothing more eloquent than a figure, somebody has said,
and the above statement can give an idea of the importance
of the cod fishery in Canada. It is undoubtedly one of our
most important branches of industry, and one that gives
rise to a considerable commerce.
I regret to say here that none, I may say, of our Cana-
dian business men, have yet determined upon carrying on
the cod fishery, and an export trade of cod-fish on a la'-ge
scale. And yet nowhere in all America is there a greater
abundance of fish of all kinds than on the coast of Canada.
What then has kept this industry from developing
itself more widely in the Dominion .? Many causes.
First of all, the want of capital, then the want of practical
knowledge of the importance of the Canadian fisheries and
of the precious resources they offer, and also, perhaps, the
total absence, until these last years, of communication,
during winter, between the central part of Canada and the
principal ports of the Gulf St. Lawrence.
Some of these causes exist no longer. The Intercolonial
Railway now connects the fisheries settlements of Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec with all parts of
Canada, and capital, although not over abundant, is
certainly not wanting.
The largest establishments in which the fisheries are
carried on in Canada were founded 120 years ago by an
enterprising Jerseyman. His means were then limited, he
could not control a large capital, but the accumulated
profits of the Canadian fisheries have enriched him and
his children. They are now worth many millions, and have
almost a monopoly of the gulf fishery trade. Who, having
anything to do with fish and fisheries and all that belongs
m
21
to such industries, has not heard of the wealthy firm of
Ciiarles Robin & Co. ? Besides Charles Robin & Co., there
are also in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, many
other firms engaged in the fishing business, and who,
though on a smaller scale, are nevertheless doing large
business. I may mention, D. Cronan, Brennan & Hart,
II. Jones, from Halifax ; Le Bouthiller & Bros., J. & E.
Collas, J. Le Bouthiller & Co., Valpy & Le Bas, from Gaspe.
Of late a few other establishments have been started,
but they are on a small scale. There is room for many
more, and I hope that a new era in the history of the
Canadian fisheries is at hand. I hope that this great
International Exhibition will be for Canada fruitful in
happy results, by making known the great commercial
importance and the immense value of its fisheries, and will
engage capitalists of this and other countries to invest in
their profitable prosecution. The sea fishery next in im-
portance to the cod fishery in Canada is the
li
Herring Fishery,
the value of which, according to our last statistics, was
1,721,822 dollars.
The herring arrives in the Canadian waters early in the
spring, and as soon as the ice has disappeared from our
coasts. From the month of April to the month of Decem-
ber it is seen in immense shoals on the Atlantic Coast of
Nova Scotia, in the Gulf St. Lawrence, in the Gulf of
Canso, in the numerous coves and bays formed by the
Magdelen Islands, and in the Bale des Chaleurs.
In winter it disappears from our northern coasts, though
a considerable quantity is taken during that time along the
southern coast of New Brunswick.
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In many of our bays, in the spring, the hfcrring some-
times appear in such dense shoals near the shore, that the
pressure upon each other, increased by the force of the tide,
kills them by thousands.
" It is impossible without seeing," writes Dr. Fortin, " to
form a correct idea of the prodigious abundance of the
ova of the herring deposited on all the coast where the
herring spawns. I have seen, in many mstances, the shore
covered two or three feet deep with them for several miles.
This will, perhaps, appear astonishing to some persons ;
but they will soon recover from their astonishment when
they reflect upon the fact that the female herring has from
six to eight millions of ova in its ovaries.
" Providence has no doubt ordained that there should be
this prodigious quantity of ova, in order that there should
remain enough for the preservation of the species in the
numerical proportion required by the Creator, notwith-
standing a loss of a great portion of them which are
washed on shore by the waves, or are devoured by the
little fishes.
" As might naturally be expected, the appearance of the
herring along our coast does not fail to engage the atten-
tion of our fishermen, for whom its capture is a highly
profitable employment."
" No sooner in the spring has the first shoal of herrings
been observed at any place along the coast, than all the
fishermen in the neighbourhood repair to the beach- with
their nets, their lines, and all their other fishing tackle.
Soon a great number of boats are plying in every direction
about the bays and coves where the fish are expected.
These boats contain the fishermen who go to spread their
nets so as to intercept the shoals of herring, when seeking
to approach the shore at night for the purpose of spawning.
J
23
The nets used by our fishermen are generally thirty
fathoms long by five or six wide."
They are set in the evening, and in the morning early
the fishermen visit them, take out the fish, and if necessary
take the net ashore to clean it. Gefterally, in the spring,
when the fishing is good, each net will take from five to ten
barrels of fish during one night.
But there is a much more expeditious mode of taking
herrings than with nets, and that is with seines. Seines for
this purpose must be of large dimensions, say from one
hundred to one hundred and fifty fathoms long, by from
eight to eleven- fathoms wide, with braces of two hundred
fathoms long. These seines are expensive and require
many hands to work them, so that it is not every fishermen
that can have one. There are also the purse seines which
are used to fish the herrings on the banks, sometimes
twenty and thirty miles from the shore,
Seine-fishing for herrings is chiefly carried on by fisher-
men of Nova Scotia, in schooners of the same tonnage as
those employed in the cod fishery.
Those who fish with nets, when once they have set them in
places where they think the greater number of fish will pass,
wait for the fish to come in and get entangled. Those
who fish with seines, on the contrary, go out in search of the
fish along the coasts thty expect them to approach, with
the seine in a large boat, manned by eight men. A score
of seamen, in smaller boats, precede and follow the seine
boat and look out in every direction for signs of the
presence of shoals of herrings. If the surface of the water
is agitated at any particular spot, they immediately pro-
ceed there. Their cruises are frequently unsuccessful.
Sometimes they row for whole days without seeing a single
fish ; but they have also their strokes of good fortune, and
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24
fishermen with seines o^ large dimensions often take at a
single haul of the seine herrings enough to fill 500, 1000,
2000 or even 3000 barrels. One need not be surprised at
such great results when one reflects that herrings in a shoal
are so crowded together as to almost form a compact
mass from the surface of the water to the bottom.
When the seine is so much loaded with fish it cannot be
hauled on shore without risk of breaking it and losing the
riches it contains, the braces are made fast on shore and
the fishermen seine with small seines inside of the large
one ; or if the fish are very thick, they are taken out with
scoop nets or landing nets.
If the weather is calm or the wind off the land, the seine
may be left moored in this way for several days or until
ail the fish have been taken out of it, but if, unfortunately,
a sea breeze springs up and it begins to blow hard, the
seine must be taken up at once or it will be torn to pieces
by the violence of the waves. Many thousands of barrels
of fish are lost in this way.
Herrings are salted either round or split and packed in
barrels, containing 200 pounds, to be sent to the United
States and West Indies markets. Only a small quantity
is sent to the English markets.
They are of different qualities ; those caught from August
to October being far superior to the spring herring, and the
best of all being the celebrated and well known " Labrador
herrings."
Mackerel Fishery.
The mackerel is one of the most valuable of all the fish
that visits the Canadian coast. Unfortunately, it is only
these last years that this fish has been appreciated at its
real value by the Canadian fishermen.
25
!
During many years the important mackerel fishery in
the Gulf St. Lawrence was almost entirely left in the hands
of our American neighbours.
Even now, I am sorry to say, there is not in the whole
province of Quebec, where this fish is in great abundance,
one single schooner specially employed in this fishery.
The fishermen of this province generally contenting them-
selves with taking mackerel for home consumption, or for
bait for the cod-fishery.
The fishermen of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and
Prince Edward Island understand their interests better, and
they have, every season, prosecuting the mackerel fishery,
a fleet of fine vessels, so improved in symmetry as to bear
fair comparison with the American mackerel schooners,
which are reputed to be the finest vessels, and the best
sailers of their class in the world.
These schooners are usually of from 60 to 1 00 tons.
They have little depth of hold, great breadth of beam, take
very much fore and aft, and carry large cotton sails, which
enable them to sail fast, even with a light breeze. They
are met with everywhere in the southern part of the Gulf
St. Lawrence, during the months of July, August and
September ; and from a distance look more like a small
squadron of yachts than a fleet of fishing vessels, so
beautiful arc their masts and sails, and so neat and clean
are they kept.
But on a nearer approach this is found to be an error,
for on the decks of these vessels are to be seen crews
of ten or twenty men all occupied either in catching
fish, in repairing fishing implements, or in splitting
and salting the fish that have been taken ; and what is
more striking is the order that reigns on board of these
schooners.
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The mackerel fishing is carried on in two ways, with the
seine and with hooks and lines.
The mode of seining I have already described in speak-
ing of the herring fishery. Dr. Fortin will tell us how the
hook and line fishing is done.
" Before sailing from their port of outfit for the Gulf St.
Lawrence, the fishermen provide themselves with several
barrels of very fat little fish called " poggies," to serve as
bait and as food for the purpose of attracting the mackerel
to the surface of the water. At a later period, when the
" poggies " are exhausted, recourse is had to the offal of the
mackerel for bait, and it is prepared in this way : — whole
fishes or the offal of fishes, either " poggies," mackerel or
others, are chopped up very fine in a machine something
like a straw cutter, and then put into a large bucket full of
salt water ; the mixture is then stirred for a long time with
a small paddle.
"As soon as the schooners have reached the places
where shoals of mackerel are to be found, they keep
cruising backwards and forwards, and the moment there is
the least appearance of fish near a vessel, the jibs are taken
in and the vessel is brought to with the mizen sail and
main sail veered half round. Feed is then scattered all
around, the fishermen seize their lines, bait their hooks
with small pieces of the skin of the neck of the mackerel
or any other fish and throw them into the water. The
lines are fine and made of hemp or cotton, generally the
latter ; they are from six to eight fathoms long and to the
end is fastened a small sinker of polished pewter, oblong in
shape and weighing about two ounces, to one end of which
is soldered a middle sized hook." (Dr. Fortin.)
Each fisherman plies two lines, one in each hand and
leans on the rail of the schooner v\ hilc fishing. He very
§1
27
seldom pays out more than four or five fathoms of line, for
the mackerel attracted by -the chopped fish thrown over-
board, rise to the surface.
From fifty to thirty barrels of mackerel may be taken in
six hours by a crew of fifteen men.
The mackerel fishery is difficult and therefore requires
to be carried on with sagacity and perseverance, but it is
generally successful, brings in large profits, and is certainly
worthy of the attention of capitalists.
Like the herrings, the mackerel are salted, and packed
into barrels of 200 pounds and sent to the English, United
States of America, and West Indies markets. Some are
preserved in cans and some are also sent to the markets in
a fresh state.
Over 74,900 barrels of pickled mackerel and 394,489 cans
of the same fish have been exported from Canada last year.
If we add to that, 131,000 barrels and 283,000 cans which
have been sent to the local markets and what is used in
home consumption, and we will have a total value of
1,694,942 dollars for the mackerel fishery.
The mention of canned mackerel brings me to speak of
another important branch of the Canadian sea fisheries,
one that is increasing every year, and that gives remunera-
tive employment to a large part of our population. I
mean the
Lobster Fishery.
This industry has but lately assumed a commercial
importance in our country.
Ten years ago the lobster fishery was almost unknown
in Canada, and carried on merely in the provinces of Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick.
In 1873 these two last provinces had sixty-four factories
frrm
28
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in operation for the preparation and canning of the
lobsters, and during a period of ti-n years no less than four
hundred of these establishments have been built and arc
now in full operation.
The province of Prince Edward Island, where this
industry was unknown in 1873, possesses to-day 118
factories, which last year sent out to different markets three
millions and a quarter cans.
A large amount of ready money is circulated in Canada
by this industry. Besides the erection and repairs of
buildings, tin and iron work, boat-building, fuel-cutting,
truckage, and other expenditure, fair wages are paid,
directly or indirectly, to thousands of hands, male and
female. Hence the industry is of considerable importance
in the general economy of the Dominion.
According to the Fisheries Statement of 1882 the lobster
fishery of Canada has yielded seventeen millions and a
half cans, representing a commercial value of nearly three
million dollars.
These figures not only indicate the extent of the interests
connected with this branch of industry, but also suggest
the danger of over-production, both of which facts point
to the necessity for economising and perpetuating the
natural supply.
There is nothmg easier than to exhaust a shell-fishery,
but also nothing harder than to revive it, and the Govern-
ment of the Dominion, alive to this fact, is taking measures
to prevent any indiscriminate fishing of the lobster on our
coast.
Doubtless, if the fishing that is now carried on was not
subjected to strict regulations, all persons interested in it
would prosper for a short time, and the country would appear
to benefit by the rapid and extensive development of this
H-:vir*«l
29
resource, but a period of reaction would necessarily ensue.
Consequently, if we wish to perpetuate such a valuable
possession, it is wiser to economise it in time, than to be
obliged, later on, to make extreme and costly endeavours to
arrest its decline, or to restore it from complete exhaustion.
Seal Fishery.
The herds of seal that frequent the Gulf St. Lawrence
and the Atlantic arrive there in the month of November.
They come chiefly into the gulf through the Strait of
Belleisle. They keep very close to the coast of Labrador
and Newfoundland, penetrating into all the bays, and
not going far out from land when doubling the points
and capes. They are fond of approaching the shore and
landing on sandy beaches or flat rocks to bask in the sun ;
but at the slightest noise, and especially if they perceive
the fishermen, they make for the sea and disappear under
its water.
Seals are of great value, not only on account of the
thick layer of fat between their skin and their muscles,
which yields an oil superior to that of the whale, but also
on account of their skin, which tans well and makes an
excellent leather.
The importance in a commercial point of view was soon
perceived by the first mariners who visited the Gulf St.
Lawrence, for no sooner was Canada discovered, than the
seal fishery was prosecuted on our coasts, and if we are to
believe the accounts which have come down to us, in
manuscript and by tradition, of several voyages to the coast
of Labrador during the last century, immense numbers of
them were taken at that period. Then, as now, nets were
used for the purpose of capturing these marine animals.
These nets are made of a hempen cord, which is very
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III
III
30
strong, although not more than the twelfth part of an inch
thick. The meshes are eight inches square and will admit
the head and neck of the seal. Some of these nets arc
more than six hundred feet long by sixty feet wide.
The usual time for the seals to pass near the shore on
their migratory voyage being known, the nets are set a few
days before. One of the fisherman is posted as a sentry
on a rock, a little in advance of the fishery, to give notice
of the approach of herds of seals, and the moment that any
appear in the fishery, the signal is given, and the fishermen
hasten to raise by means of a capstan, a net sunk by
leaden weights, to the bottom of the water, at the entrance
of the fishery. With this net they close the opening
through which the seals made their ingress ; and as soon as
this operation is completed, and the seals are fairly im-
prisoned, the fishermen jump into their boats and enter the
fishery shouting and beating the water with their paddles.
The frightened seals, trying to escape, dive down and run
their heads into the meshes of the nets, which are kept
always open by means of cables round the borders of the
nets.
As soon as the seals are caught in the meshes, the men
under-run the nets, knock on the head those that are not
strangled and carry them all on shore in their canoes.
The autumn seal fishing takes place on the coast of
Labrador, at the end of November, and in December, and
is very arduous by reason of the severity of the cold at that
season.
The seals are no sooner taken out of the water than they
become frozen ; and in that state they are put into stores
and it is not until the spring, when the warm rain has
softened them, that they are cut up and their fat melted.
Seals are not only taken in nets near the shore, in the
Mil
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manner I have just described, but they are also pursued in
every direction, and are sought for on the ice-fields, not
only in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but also in the North
Atlantic Ocean.
The expeditions that are fitted for this latter kind of
fishing, or rather of hunting, require to start early in the
spring, in order to find the seals on the ice-fields ; for, once
they are in the water, they can set the most experienced
men at defiance, and it is useless to pursue them.
Large capital is invested in the seal fishery, especially in
Newfoundland. In the Dominion, so far, this fishery has
not been carried on on a very large scale, it being limited
to Magdalen Islands and Labrador.
It has produced last year 75,242 seals, and 220,157 [??]
of oil ; the whole worth 332,521 dollars.
The Government of Canada, in order to develop our vast
maritime resources, has spent about five millions of dollars
to improve and render secure harbours along our coasts,
and to establish telegraphic communication between the
fishing districts of the Dominion.
The area covered by this telegraphic system, that we
owe to the energetic efforts of Dr. P. Fortin, is about 27,000
square miles of our most prolific fishing grounds.
All our fisheries stations are connected by it, and every
day at the different telegraph offices, bulletins are displayed
and distributed, indicating the probability of the weather
for the coming twenty-four hours, the existence of bait in
particular localities, the whereabouts of fish, &c.
This telegraphic system, which is illustrated by the maps
and blank of bulletin issued by the Department of Public
Works of the Dominion, and which can be obtained at the
Canadian Court of this Exhibition, has not only proved of
great value to our fisheries, and afforded great encourage-
.7.-, »■; i.T i.at.-T.Tf;:,:
aa
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mcnt to capitalists and fishermen engaged in them, but also
contributes largely to render safer the navigation of the River
and Gulf St. Lawrence, to guide the vessels out of danger, to
reduce the rate of insurance, and to encourage the shipping
trade.
Mr. W. F. Witcher, Commissioner of Fisheries for Canada,
being requested to give his opinion on the advisability of
establishing telegraphic communications along our coasts,
writes in 1876 :
"The pursuit of an industry such as that of fishing
within nine hundred miles of coast is necessarily attended
by many dangers and peculiar drawbacks."
"Exposure of life and property is frequent. Success
depends very much on the seasons. Many kinds of fish of
erratic habits are eccentric in their movements. Plenty
and scarcity may alternate in places, from which the settlers
depending wholly on any fishery have no escape. Within
twenty miles of settlement, on a barren and uninhabited
coast, the fish may strike and remain without any possibility
of their whereabouts being known at other places ; they may
be abundant beyond the capacity of shoremen or vessels
to catch them, and yet fishermen not far distant may be
unable to procure even sufficient for their winter supply.
Vessels may return empty in one season from fishing
grounds where previously or afterwards the fish abound.
Some may lose the greater and best part of each season in
searching after the shoals. Still the waters teem with fish,
and sooner or later they approach the shore, or frequent
the shallows. It seems possible for the spirit of modern
improvement to devise some means of providing against
these vicissitudes. That plan which strikes me as the
most feasible is a telegraphic system, connecting together
the main fishing stations. The idea of signal stations, from
.,„.•, ' 33
which to observv^ and notify movcmcnis of fish, has been
carried out to some extent in Norway, Holland, Germany,
Sicily, and on the coast of Cornwall. It has proved of
material assistance to the fishermen, and aided considerably
in developing the fisheries of each of these countries."
" There is no doubt it would prove advantageous to
Canadian fishermen. Besides afibrding greater induce-
ment and security to employers of capital, and inspiring
confidence in those exposed to danger and hardships, it
would undoubtedly enable us to increase production and
enlarge our exports."
Besides the money spent in the two great services above
mentioned, our Government distributes yearly a sum of
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars as a bounty to our
fishermen and owners of vessels and boats.
The short time I have at my disposal does not permit
me to speak of other sea fisheries, such as the oyster, the
halibut, the whale fisheries, etc., which, though not possess-
ing such a great commercial value as the cod and other
fisheries, are not, nevertheless, without importance.
I will now draw your attention to our freshwater
fisheries.
Freshwater Fisheries.
Honour to whom honour is due. I will first speak of
the salmon, which is justly styled the king of our freshwater
fish.
When Canada was first settled our rivers were celebrated
for the number of salmon that were taken in them.
Afterwards, the rivers ceased to be so well stocked with
fish in consequence of too many being taken at all seasons
of the year, and of the want of laws and regulations for
their preservation. But within the last few years, there has
[^9] D
M
llfl
||i^
&
Pit
been a preat change ; good laws and judicious regulations
limit the fishing to certain seasons of the year, and prescribe
the kinds and number of fishing implements that may be
used. Officers have been appointed to enforce the law ; the
coasts and rivers are well protected ; from the eleven fish-
breeding establishments which are under the control of the
Government, millions of young salmon are distributed
yearly in our rivers, and we have every cause to hope that
in a few years our rivers will be replenished, and we shall
be again able to procure and to send to foreign markets,
at moderate prices, this delicious fish which ranks so highly
amongst the luxuries of the table. This view is fully borne
out by the official returns of our inspectors of fisheries, and
overseers, whose returns for the year 1882 give a most
satisfactory account of the greatly increased number of
salmon in the rivers and coast fisheries of the Dominion.
Specially is this noticed in the rivers where young fry have
been distributed from the hatcheries. I am happy to say
that letters addressed to me from Canada, last week, state
that the catch of salmon this season will be, according to
all appearances, much superior again.
Although the salmon fishery has somewhat decreased in
abundance in Canada during the last few years, it has yet,
nevertheless, a considerable importance, and is a source of
wealth for many of the inhabitants of the Dominion, besides
being a source of pleasure for a great number of wealthy
gentlemen from England, United States of America and
other countries, who every summer visit our rivers to enjoy
the salmon fly-fishing.
Who amongst those anglers does not know, or at least
has not heard of, the far-famed Ristigouche, Cascapidiac,
Gaspe, and other Canadian rivers ?
To prove the importance of our salmon fishery I cannot
35
do better than .ij^ain consult the reports of our statis-
ticians.
I find in the last statistics we have on tliis subject, that
the sahiion fishery produced in the year 1881 : 6,038
barrels of salted salmon; 2,614,446 pounds of the same
fish fresh and smoked, and 8,5CK),ooo pounds preserved in
cans ; total 12,322,046 pounds.
Supposing for every fish taken an average weight of 1 5
pounds, we shall have in 1881 821,469 salmon caught in
the Canadian waters. And the returns for the season
1882 will certainly show an increase on the above catch.
The Province of British Columbia alone, the factories of
which have preserved in 1881 8,000,000 of pounds, will
send to the markets this year 12,000,000 of cans. And
yet, Mr. Anderson, Inspector of Fisheries for this Pro-
vince says in his report, dated ist January, 1882, that the
canneries of British Columbia, notwithstanding the abun-
dance of fish, could not be worked up to their full capacity,
owing to the deficiency of labour, arising from the increased
demand for railways and other purposes.
Most of the Canadian salmon is caught along the shores
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and near the estuaries of the
rivers where this fish goes for the purpose of spawning,
and in the rivers of British Columbia,
Some of our pickled salmon reach the British market,
but it is chiefly the salmon preserved in cans that we send
there.
So far, almost all the fresh Canadian salmon has been
sent to the United States markets ; but attempts have
been successfully made to send it to the English markets;
and I hope that after this Exhibition a much greater quan-
tity of it will be exported there.
I !
In
D 2
36
Trout, White Fish, &c.
All the Canadian rivers abound with trout- of all kinds,
of which the best are the sea trout and the salmon-trout.
But it is chiefly in the lakes of the Province of Ontario
that the white fish and trout fisheries are carried on on a
large scale.
These lakes, which I have called inland seas, are perhaps
the largest bodies of fresh water in the world.
Lake Superior alone covers an area of thirty- one thou-
sand square miles, while Lakes Erie, Huron, and Ontario,
put together, have an expanse of fifty-two thousand square
miles.
The numerous rivers that empty their waters into these
lakes, as well as the lakes themselves, teem with an abun-
dance of different kinds of food fishes, which are well
known for their flavour and their delicacy ; and the fisher-
men of Ontario can choose between the salmon-trout,
weighing as much as- eighty pounds, the white fish, which
is equal in flavour to the salmon itself, and the sturgeon,
the pickerel, the pike, the bass, the sunfish, &c., &c.
Fishing in the Canadian lakes is carried on with gill nets
and trap nets, and the vessels used are either sailing-boats,
varying in dimensions from twenty to thirty feet, or small
steamers which are called fishing-tugs.
These small steamers — two models of which can be seen
in the Canadian Court — are fifty feet long, and twelve feet
beam. They are generally owned by fish merchants, who
engage men to carry on the fishing for them. These fisher-
men are on wages, and do not share in the profits of the
catch ; but if the fishing is successful, they sometimes
receive a bonus from the proprietor of the steamer.
These fishing steamers have a great advantage over the
37
sailing-boats. While half the crew who man them is
occupied in taking in the rets that have been set the day-
previous, the other half is setting out clean nets, and as soon
as these two operations are finished, the steamer hastens to
the nearest railway-station, and the fish which have just been
caught, is immediately sent, in a fresh state, in ice, some to
the Canad . i cities and some to the United States markets.
The produce of the lakes fishery last year was 4,5oo,oc>o
pounds of white fish sent fresh to the markets, 5,079 barrels
of the same fish salted, 9,758 barrels of trout and 41,360
barrels of sturgeon, bass, pike, maskinonge and other
fishes ; total, 56,000 barrels and 4,500,000 pounds.
And yet the population of the Province of Ontario being
chiefly composed of farmers, only a small capital is invested
in the lakes fisheries. I have no doubt that the amount of
fish now taken could be annually doubled and even trebled
if a larger number of men were employed in the develop-
ment of this industry.
I have not said anything either of the smelt fishery,
which in New Br'inswick and Nova Scotia gives employ-
ment, during the winter months, to many hundreds of the
inhabitants of those two provinces, and by which fishermen
can make from $200 to $300 a day, or of the eel, the bar,
the sturgeon and many other freshwater fisheries. I may
perhaps have another opportunity to tell you of the extent
and value of these. It will suffice to say that the export
of the freshwater fisheries of the Dominion, although sold
at a low figure, produced last year the sum of 3,174,533
dollars.
Statistical reports do not give with any pretence to
accuracy the value of home consumption, but, as fish in
Canada is a very cheap article of food, it is largely used in
every family.
I'll
His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh in the
valuable and interesting papers that he has written on the
British fisheries states that " the total quantity of fish
brought to London in a year, represents a consumption of
67 pounds per head of the population of the Metropolis."
If in London, where the price of fish is equal to and
even higher than meat, such a quantity is consumed yearly,
I may say that in Canada, where fish can be obtained at a
merely nominal figure, the above quantity is almost doubled,
and it is safe to say that 450,000,000 pounds of fish, or 100
pounds per head, is yearly consumed by the Canadian
population ; which, at three cents or two pence a pound,
sfives a sum of thirteen million and a half dollars.
Adding to these thirteen million and a half the amount
of the exports, we have as the yearly value of the Canadian
fisheries a grand total of twent3/^-seven million dollars, or
over five million and a half pounds sterling.
The above figures speak for themselves, and show the
richness of the Canadian waters. As I have already said
the sea fisheries of Canada require nothing else than
capital to be more remunerative than they actually are.
Many of the numerous practical men who are daily
visiting this Exhibition ask the following questions —
How is it that so little of your fish reaches the British
markets .-' Why do you not send us your dry and boneless
cod, your pickled and fresh fish, etc.
To this we may answer : i. Canada is sending here a
good quantity of salmon, lobsters and mackerel preserved
in tins ; 2. One cargo of fresh salmon, was some years ago
sent to this market from Canada, and I have reason to
believe that the same dealer, satisfied with the practicability
of the trade, will make a further shipment this season ; 3.
I sincerely hope that this great International Fisheries
39
daily
i
Exhibition will have the effect of making our dry and
pickled fish better known and better appreciated, and that
a much larger trade, beneficial to both countries, will be,
hereafter, carried on between Canada and the Mother
Country.
Before concluding these remarks, you will allow me to
say a few words of the laws and regulations protecting our
fisheries.
First, are fisheries exhaustible, and consequently, is there
any necessity for their protection ?
This question the eminent Professor Huxley, in his
valuable address, at the opening of these conferences, has
answered to a certain degree.
It seems admitted by everybody that the freshwater
fisheries can easily be exhausted by indiscriminate fishing.
As to some of the sea fisheries, namely: cod, herring and
mackerel fisheries, &c., opinions differ, and though, con-
siderfng the immense power of reproduction that Providence
has given to the above named fishes, I would feel inclined
to think with some scientists, that it is impossible to exhaust
the deep sea fisheries, whilst upon their feeding grounds,
there are nevertheless facts leading to conclude that deep
sea fishes should be protected specially when they come
near to the coast for the purpose of spawning.
So far, every one of the learned gentlemen who have
com:^ here to speak on the British fisheries, has stated that
English fishermen having to go farther out to sea, conse-
quently have to incur more expenses and are exposed to
greater dangers in order to provide the markets with fish.
If I am allowed to add to what these gentlemen have
said of the British fisheries, the experience that twenty-five
years' observation on the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
where our largest sea fisheries are carried on, has given me,
40
I will say that there is certainly, owing to an indiscriminate
fishing in the time they are spawning, a decrease of our sea
fishes about the coasts of Canada.
For instance, in the River St Lawrence, from Rimouski
to Cap Chat, and in the upper end of the Baie des Chaleurs,
where a few years ago the cod fishery was carried on on a
large scale along the coast, this industry had to be given
up, the cod-fish having entirely disappeared.
Formerly, and I may even say lately, in the district of
Gaspe, along the coast of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,
at no more than a mile from the shore, the fisherman could
take every day a good quantity of fish ; now the inshore
fishing is not so remunerative, and fishermen have to go
much farther out to sea to take the same quantity.
Then the expense of fitting out a boat was so small that
eight shillings a quintal was considered a fair price for cod,
but now this price is more than doubled.
No more than ten years ago the caplin was so abundant
on our coasts that large quantities of it were used to
manure the lands. Now our fishermen, through their own
fishing, are obliged to go twenty-five, and sometimes forty
miles to get enough of this fish to bait their lines.
Some one will perhaps say, your official reports show an
increase, every year, in the num.ber of fish caught. The
reports are correct ; but that does not necessarily prove an
increase in the actual quantity of fish, for the number of
vessels employed in our fisheries is also increasing every
year. Let us also consider, that the men having to go
twenty-five and thirty miles from the shore to fish, much
more time is lost than when the fishing was pursued close
to the coast. The fishermen cannot put out when there is a
strong sea breeze. They are often kept on shore by storms
which last for whole weeks. Sometimes they set out in
41
fine weather, and no sooner have they reached the fishing
grounds, than the wind rises and they are forced to return
^to land as quickly as possible ; and a season seldom passes,
without our coasts being visited by squalls, so violent and
so sudden, that the poor fishermen are obliged to scud
home under bare poles and to remain in-doors for whole
days at a time. Consequently, the time actually given to
fishing is not so long.
In Norway and Sweden, if I am not mistaken, fisher-
men have also to go beyond the limit where the cod-fish
was usually caught in great numbers ; and the statistics
furnished by the inspectors of fisheries, show a large de-
crease in the number of cod-fishes caught in those countries
during the last three years.
Is the failure of the Norwegian fishery due only to
the severity of the weather, or similar temporary causes >
These are questions which I decline to answer, and that I
leave to scientists and practical men to decide. Along the
coast of Norway from Stavanger to Aalepind the herring
resorts to spawn. Some years ago this important fishery
was yielding as much as 800,000 barrels of fish, but since
the year 1876, it has been gradually decreasing, and it
hardly produces now 20,00c, or 25,000 barrels annually.
Taking together the statistics of all the countries where
the herring fishery is carried on, it may be said that, notwith-
standing the immense quantities that have been, and are
yet taken, the herring does not seem to diminish in number ;
that it may present itself occasionally in smaller numbers
at certain places, but that this is rather due to certain
circumstances arising from the weather or the action of the
wind.
This, ^ in my opinion, is an erroneous calculation. The
same quantity of fish may yet be taken ; but let us con-
42
^ili!
I a?
sider for one moment the improvements made in the
fishing implements, and the increase in the number and
size of fishing crafts. Boats employed in the herring fishery
are now three and four times as large as those which were
used twenty years ago, and instead of five or six nets, each
boat has now forty or fifty nets of larger dimensions and
better quality. Should not this fishery be more productive
now than it was ? If the herring were not decreasing in
number, should not a fisherman, fishing with ten nets
take more of them than when he was fishing only with
three ?
Great exertions are now being made by the several
countries where fish culture has been introduced to
apply this science towards the propagation of cod, herring,
mackerel, and other sea fishes, and consequently protect
sea fisheries.
May I ask what would be the use of endeavouring to
increase, not only freshwater fishery, but sea fishes as well
if the sea fisheries were inexhaustible ?
The facts that I have just submitted for your considera-
tion, and many others that could be mentioned, prove suf-
ficiently the necessity of giving to the sea fisheries a fair
protection.
Supposing even the truth of the theory that sea fisheries
are inexhaustible, which theory I am not ready to admit, I
think that in order to diminish for the fishennen the
expenses of outfit, and the numerous dangers to which
they are daily exposed, in order especially to procure to
the poorer classes a cheap supply of fish, it would be
advisable to take the means of submitting the sea fisheries
to judicious regulations.
The legislators of Canada do not seem to believe that
sea-fisheries are altogether inexhaustible, for in the laws
■1
43
that they have made to protect them, we read the following
clauses : —
" No one shall use mackerel, herring, or capHn seine for
taking cod-fish, and no cod-fish seine shall be of less size
mesh than four inches in extension."
" No caplin seine will be used in herring fishing."
"With a view to protect the oyster beds in different
parts of the bays and coasts of the Dominion, it shall not
be lawful for any person to take oysters, or in any way
to injure or disturb them, except during times and on terms
permitted by special rcf^ulations, under a penalty of not
more than one hundred dollars, and not less than forty
dollars."
Strict regulations there are also, protecting the freshwater
fishes.
In Ontario and Quebec, salmon cannot be taken with
nets between the first day of August and the first day of
May ; between the fifteenth day of August and the first
day of March in the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia ; but fly-fishing is allowed in Quebec and Ontario
between the first day of May and the first day of Septem-
ber, and in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick from the first
day of March to the fifteenth of September.
The use of nets in the waters of the different provinces is
regulated by law.
The meshes of salmon nets must be at least five inches
in extension, the distance of nets from each other never
less than 250 yards, and no salmon be taken within 200
yards of any spawning-ground. All salmon nets must be
raised from Saturday evening until Monday morning of
each week.
'•It is not lawful to fish for or catch any white-fish, in
any manner, between the nineteenth day of November and
■
44
th'j first clay of December, between the thirty-first day of
May and the first day of August in the province of Ontario,
or between the thirty-first day of July and the first day of
December, in the province of Quebec."
"Gill-nets, for catching salmon-trout or white-fish shall
have meshes of at least five inches extension."
Fishery ofiicers and overseers are appointed by the
Government to enforce these laws and many others which
it would be too long to enumerate here.
Understanding the real value of our sea and freshwater-
fisheries, their immense importance for the Dominion, our
legislators have acted very wisely, I think, in subjecting
them to strict regulations.
And in taking the means of economising and perpetuating
such important sources of wealth, they are, in my humble
opinion, working for the welfare, and in the true interests
of our present and future fishing population.
DISCUSSION.
Mr. R. M. Watson (Montreal), moved a vote of thanks
to Mr. Joncas for his very able paper.
Mr. James C. Parker (London City Mission) seconded
the motion. He said he had been visiting the poor of
London for the last thirty years, and this question of
fisheries was one of great practical importance to them.
They were very fond of fish, and would be glad to have a
supply at a low price. He used to think that he had done
his duty to his mortal body if he had a fish dinner once a
month, but since the opening of this Exhibition he had
gone in for a fish dinner two or three times a week, and all
his friends said he looked much stronger and better for it ;
and he must say that if he had not had those fish dinners
p||
shall
45
he should not have had the courage to get up and attempt
to make these few remarks. There were four millions of
people in London, and what was to become of them, unless
the supply of fish was increased, he did not know.
The resolution was put, and carried unanimously.
Mr. Herbert Hormsell (Bridport), remarked that
Mr. Joncas had mentioned Gibraltar as the southern limit
for cod fisheries, but in so doing he must have forgotten
the fishery at the Canary Islands. There was a large
fishery going on there, conducted by a Spanish Company,
vi^here some 300 or 400 boats were employed, and the fish
caught were dried on the coast of Morocco. That was
certainly the most southern fishery of cod. He had been
rather struck by the remark of Mr. Parker, as to the
intellectual stimulus given him by a fish diet, and he
believed medical men generally agreed with the opinion
that there was a large amount of intellectual energy given
by the phosphorous contained in fish food. As to the
nutritive value of fish, it was a great pity that the inhabi-
tants of London did not more thoroughly recognise its
importance. He had been much struck in passing through
the United States section, by a paper which was exhibited
there, showing at a glance the comparative nutritive value
of fish as compared with beef and other meats, and he
thought probably it would astonish many persons present
when he told them that dried cod was infinitely more
nutritious per pound than the sirloin of beef As to the
rapid growth of Canadian fisheries, he might state that the
town from which he came owed its main existence to
fisheries. It was a thriving little town, and about 100
years ago the first shipment of fishing-nets and tackle was
made from Bridport to the Canadian fisheries throutrh a
Jersey firm. This corroborated what had been said as to
11 ii
46 ■
the antiquity of the Jersey fishery establishments on the
coast of Labrador.
Professor BROWN GOODE was very pleased to express
his great satisfaction with the paper just read, which seemed
to him by far the most complete and satisfactory rhunU of
the fisheries of Canada he had ever heard, and contained
many points of great interest. There were one or two
things, however, concerning the Canadian fisheries which
probably Mr. Joncas' modesty forbade him to refer to,
but which he would like to mention. In the first place
he would refer to the immense growth of the Canadian
fisheries during the last ten years. In the course of his
own studies he had occasion each year to peruse the
Canadian Reports, and had been perfectly amazed at
the rapidity with which this industry had developed. He
also knew it to be a fact that the fishing vessels of Canada,
and especially of the United States, had improved wonder-
fully in speed, size, and in general seaworthy qualities.
He also wished to refer to the point which Mr. Joncas
had not touched upon quite so much as he might have
done, namely, the very efficient Government system of
inspection which Canada had worked out. It seemed to
him that the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries
was one of the most valuable organizations in the world,
and that their system of gathering statistics was one which
other countries ought to study vvith a great deal of care.
In the United States they had nothing of the kind. They
had an inspection in 1880, but there was no permanent
organization for gathering statistics. Another matter which
he looked upon with admiration was the great progress
Canada had made in fish culture during the last twenty
years, and more especially under the direction of Mr.
Wilniot, who was one of the pioneers of fish culture in
47
on the
express
seemed
mmi of
ntained
or two
3 which
efer to,
5t place
anadian
2 of his
use the
azed at
id. He
Canada,
wonder-
[ualities.
Joncas
ht have
'Stem of
emed to
Fisheries
e world,
le which
of care.
1. They
:rmanent
er which
progress
t twenty
\ of Mr.
ilture in
America. Another thing he ought to mention was the
indebtedness of the United States to Canada, and es-
pecially to Nova Scotia, for the immense number of fisher-
men who came to the States every year. The Nova
Scotia fishermen in the Port of Gloucester were numbered
by thousands, where a large number of the finest vessels
were manned and officered by them. Many of theui came
there and settled for life in Massachusetts, whilst others did
so for a period of years, and returned home when they had
achieved a competence. The fisheries of Canada and of
the United States were so closely interwoven in all their
interests that they really should be considered together,
and compared very carefully with each other, and some
calculations he had made convinced him that the annual
production of the two countries amounted to more than
all Europe, Great Britain excepted, namely, from I20 to
150 million dollars annually. It seemed to him that in
Canada, as well as in the United States, the resources of
the sea had hardly yet been appreciated. Here were
millions of pounds of the most valuable food products
annually wasted, and no doubt one of the results of this
Exhibition would be that they would learn to make better
use of them than they had hitherto done.
Dr. Francis Day said he had intended moving the
vote of thanks for this interesting paper, but as that had
already been done, he would only say a few words in con-
tinuation of the remarks which had been made. He quite
agreed in what had been said, that these fisheries were still
almost in their infancy, but still they found it necessary to
protect them. In England they found in some places they
did well by placing certain restrictions on the fisheries as
carried on, especially in protecting the lobster fisheries.
Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen said it was now his
pleasing duty, as a member of the Executive, to propose a
V
'if
48
cordial vote of thanks to the Hon. Mr. McLelan, the
Minister of Fisheries of the Dominion, and he thought the
very fact of his tal<ing the chair at the Conference, as
a Minister of an important government, such as that of
Canada, was a proof of the importance which that government
attached to the protection and development of the fishing
industries there. This gentleman, vvho had "^e over on
the part of the Dominion Government, and 1 . shed lustre
on the Exhibition by his presence and active assistance, was,
he believed, the only Minister of Fisheries throughout the
civilized world. They had heard from Professor Brown
Goode that there was none in America, and he knew that
in Europe such a minister did not exist, and he wanted
this fact to come home to them all. It was important that
it should come home to all their foreign friends, and leave
them to feel the great importance it was to the civilized
world generally, to protect that which P 'idence had
given them so bountifully. They knew ve*^ .11 that our
teeming population in London depended a great deal on
fish as food, and if they knew as much about it as one
gentleman who had already spoken, and as Sir Henry
Thompson, and many others including himself, did, they
would know the benefit of not only one, two or even three
fish dinners a week, but of fish and nothing but fish as food.
They might smile at this, but he was convinced they would
all feel healthier and better men and women if they were
to live on fish. But there was another point which greatly
affected the female portion of the population, ami that was
that they should know how to cook fish ; unfortunately
they did not know, and would not take the trouble to
learn ; but it was very important for the working-classes,
and for them all, that their wives and housekeepers
should know the variety of ways in which they could put
before their hungry and tired husbands a good meal of
49
fish. There was not a very large audience present ; but
that was because people knew that within a few days they
would be able to read this very interesting and admirable
paper of Mr. Joncas. He w as much pleased as a member
of the Executive to tender their thanks to him for his con-
tribution, which no doubt would be studied in this country,
and would be translated into every foreign tongue. The
literature which was being prepared in connection with this
Exhibition was, to his mind, with the little experience he
had of exhibitions, the most important monument and
record which had ever existed in any exhibition, because
these were not dry blue-books of statistics, but in-
teresting essays by practical men, who had come from
all parts of the world to enlighten us in the knowledge
for which they were distinguished ; that knowledge would
be spread over the length and breadth of the land, and
he trusted very much that a system would be inaugurated
during the cominj. winter whereby these essays might be
read to large num, rs of the fishing population, and he
knew very well the interest with which they would be re-
ceived, and the great benefit which might be expected to
accrue. He could only assure Mr. McLelan that his presence
was hailed with gratitude, and he was never tired of ex-
pressing to him and to the Dominion how glad they were
to be able to receive him in the mother country, and how
proud they were to have such intelligent and remarkable
sons, showing the way to that which we had not yet learnt
ourselves, and giving us lessons which we in this old
country were willing to listen to, and he hoped to profit by.
Mr. WiLMOT, in seconding the motion, said he felt sure
the presence of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries had
added much to the welfare of their great Exhibition, and
when they learned that he was the only Minister of fisheries
present, he thought that fact said a great deal for the
[19] E
y
so
country which sent him here. Had he been in Canada, he
would have spoken more fluently than he could hope to
do, because it was stated that in Canada about lOO lbs. of
fish were eaten by each inhabitant annually, whereas here,
they only ate 30 lbs. ; he had certainly not eaten as much
fish in this country as he did at home, and therefore the
intelligence which was supposed to arise from the eating of
fish would not be so manifest with him. This Exhibition
was fraught with a good deal of good or harm. Good
if they took hold of the sentiments put forward by Sir
Philip Owen, but if of sentiments derogatory to fishing
interests, which were put forward in what was to be con-
sidered one of the text -books of the world hereafter,
then great injury would be the consequence. His
friend and associate from Canada, Mr. Joncas, had
read a most lucid and instructive paper ; and, without
desiring to eulogise it too much, he must say that if like
views were in the inaugural address, it would have been
fully better, and superior to those which were read,
because there was a ring about this which meant protec-
tion to the fisheries of the world, whilst in that which was
read, there was a prevailing sentiment that no protection
was wanted, and he contended it was very injurious to put
forward the idea that protection was not required. What
did they find in this paper? That in Canada, a young
country, fishermen found already that they had to go farther
away to catch the fish. The fish came in near the shore to
spawn, and went out into the deeper waters again to feed,
and when an article of food like fish came to the shores of
any country to reproduce they should be protected in that
act, and not slaughtered as they invariably were. Was it not
agreed that they should protect salmon when they came
into the rivers to breed ? Laws were passed, saying that
men should not kill salmon for a certain period when on the
51
ida, he
ope to
lbs. of
3 here,
; much
3re the
iting of
tiibition
Good
by Sh
fishing
36 con-
ereafter,
His
LS, had
without
if like
^e been
i read,
protec-
ich was
otection
to put
What
young
) farther
shore to
to feed,
lores of
in that
as it not
^y came
ng that
ti on the
spawning grounds, and did not tne same laws of nature hold
good with regard to other fish? If any animal were
destroyed in an advanced state of pregnancy, it was a mere
matter of time to exterminate it, and if the herring or cod
came from the deep waters to our shores to reproduce their
species should it not be the duty of those who conducted
the affairs of the country, to say that man should not destroy
the pregnant creature, because by refraining from doing so
a much larger quantity would be produced hereafter.
What possible harm could there be to the fisherman to do
this ? it was doing him good ; he would reap more fruit
from it, and, not only he, but posterity after him. It was,
therefore, in his opinion, the duty of Legislatures to pass
some such measures as would prevent people continually
killiiig these fish. There were twelve months in the year,
and if during those twelve months there was one when the cod
came to deposit their eggs and another one when mackerel
came to spawn, why should not man be restricted during
those particular months, and allowed to catch fish during
the other eleven. Why should he fish 365 days in the year .?
It was found that the principal cod, herring, and mackerel
fishing was within a certain distance of the shore, they were
not caught so much in the greater depths of the ocean.
Many people said the sea could not be exhausted, but that
was a fallacy, because in every civilized country of the
world they were using means to increase the number
of fish, and it was evident that they found they were
getting less and consequently were anxious that some-
thing should be done. Britain was one of the countries
which did not pass laws for the protection of fish in the sea.
All along the coast of Norway and Sweden fish were
getting scarce, and within the three or four miles' limits
where they used to catch cod, they were almost gone.
They had to go farther and farther, showing clearly that
I
5^;
they had destroyed them on the nearer h'mits. Professor
Goode, in his lecture the other day, intimated that it was
unnecessary to pass laws for the preservation of fish in the
sea, but now he said that in Canada the progress was very
satisfactory because it had judicious laws for the preserva-
tion of its fish. Within the last twenty-four hours he had
received a letter from a very shrewd and clever fisherman
of the Bay of Chaleur, in Canada, in which he said that (on
account of the protection given and the immense number
of young fry turned out into the rivers), on the 12th June,
the day he wrote, they had caught more salmon than were
caught last year altogether. He said —
" Dear Sir, — I have been down here since the ist, and am
glad to say I have got more salmon already than the whole
number we had last year, and every appearance of a very
fine catch, and oh ! such beauties, and even prettier fish than
the old Restigouche salmon. So far they give an average of
twenty-two pounds ; of course markets are down, Montreal
and New York glutted ; we are now freezing the fish. My
son wrote me from the Restigouche fishery on Saturday,
telling me that he put 300 salmon in his freezer that day
averaging 25.^ pounds each, and says they are better than
the 'big run' of 1879. Now, Mr. Wilmot, I am pleased at
this, and I am sure you will be ; but I confess it is nothing
more than I anticipated, notwithstanding the jeers and
scoffing of such poor narrow-minded wretches, who, carried
away by spite, envy and malice, have done all they could
to bring our efforts into public contempt ; even parties from
whom better would have been expected were almost
convinced by these specious pleas, until the clear necessity
and benefits of artificial breeding were shown as overcoming
the natural losses of eggs and young fish from ice freshets,
etc. » * «
53
" I hope your Exhibition is a success, as I know you
will try to make it. If you can find time do drop me a
line. « Yours, etc.,
"John Mowat."
Some people said that the fisheries were inexhaustible,
and if we could get practical knowledge that that was so,
he would not object to it, but they had only theoretical
knowledge of it. They were told the other day of a
peculiar case which would p^ove that the sea was inex-
haustible of fish, but if a theory were built on a theory
there ought to be some practical basis to commence
with. If it were theoretical from beginning to end it
could be of no value. Having read the passage from the
opening or inaugural address referring to the cod at the
Islands of Lofoden, Mr. Wilmot said that was put for-
ward to substantiate the theory that fish were so numerous
that it was impossible to exhaust them, and, therefore, it was
unnecessary to have judicious laws to protect them. He con-
tended on the contrary that there was not a tittle of founda-
tion to show, because codfish might be numerous there, that
it was not necessary to protect them. There were 27,800,000
and odd square feet to the mile superficial measure. That
would give 185,956,000 cod fish, supposing them to be in
60 layers 180 feet in depth. It was said they came in all
along the coast continuously for two months, as the coast
could not be less than 50 miles, that would give 9,000,000,000
of cod fish, and as they came in for two months or 60 days,
multiplying that by 60 it would be 540,000,000,000 of cod
fish within that area of 50 miles along the shore, and add-
ing -p'^ for herring space, the food of the codfish, it would
cover 64,566 superficial miles of ocean. When theories
were commenced in that way it appeared to him to amount
to an absurdity. It was wrong to put forward such data to
54
any intelligent community ; it was unfair to the community
and unfair towards those who had laboured for so many
years to protect fish, and unfair to all who had stood on that
platform, most of whom accorded with him in his views
that fish should be protected. If documents of this kind
went forth it would do a vast amount of harm, and he
hoped the intelligence of that audience and Grc Britain
would go with those who were anxious to get laws passed
to protect fish universally, not select one kind of fish
because it was comparatively easy to protect them, but all
fishes should be protected, because mankind needed them
all. It had been a labour of love with him for many years
to study the habits of fish, and he regretted that, with
many persons at the present time, there was too much
theory and too much science without practical knowledge
at the bottom of it.
The motion was then put by Sir P. C. Owen, and
carried unanimously.
The Chairman, in responding, said he felt quite over-
come by the flattering terms in which the resolution
had been proposed, and the enthusiastic way in which the
work which he and his government were doing in Canada
had been spoken of. It was true that the Government of
Canada felt a deep interest in the preservation of fisheries,
because they knew how important it was to her people
that those fisheries should be used, and not abused. Their
object had been that what some scientific gentlemen there
called the balance of nature should be preserved, or that it
should not be too much broken. The balance of nature
had been running for centuries before the fishermen came
in, and the proper proportions of fish were all preserved ;
the fishermen came in, and with their multiplied engines for
destroying fish were likely to destroy the balance of nature,
and so to destroy quantities of food fish, so important to
and
55
the people of the Dominion and other countries, for
they believed with proper care they should have large
quantities for export. Sir Philip Owen said they should
all live on fish, and certainly in going to the meat markets
of England there was a great inducement for people to live
on fish if they could. But if they would come over to
Canada, and take a free farm — such as they were ready to
give to millions of people — of i6o acres of as fertile land
as ever rain or dew descended upon, they would have
not only fish to live upon, but good beef, mutton, and
poultry, and all else they desired to make a variety on their
table. The Government of Canada not only passed laws,
but believed it was necessary to provide shelter and pro-
tection on the -more exposed portions of the sea coast to
protect the lives of the fishermen. They had heard from
time to time how dangerous was this occupation, and that
it showed the largest percentage of loss of life of any
occupation in which man engaged. In Canada they built
harbours and breakwaters to which the fishermen in
exposed places could resort in case of sudden storm,
and young a.3 they were, and poor as they had been,
they had expended about six million dollars for that purpose.
They had also been told that sometimes fishermen went
out and toiled all day and night but caught nothing, but
the Government had also endeavoured to provide against
that by laying down telegraph cables along the coast to all
the stations, so that when the fish struck on any particular
point they could telegraph to all the fishermen who at once
could come there and load their vessels. Professor Goode
had referred to the fact that a great many Nova Scotians
went to the famous fishing-port of Gloucester and manned
their vessels, and that was no doubt the case ; they found
that in the summer their own fishermen were employed off
the coast, but in the winter season they went to the United
56
States because they had a better class of fishin|j-vessels for
winter service, and could go out to sea with more safety ;
they therefore encouraged the building of a better class of
vessels in their own country, and for a number of years had
devoted 1 50,000 dollars a year to this purpose, paying so
much a ton for a better class of vessels, so that their own
fishermen might be employed during the winter and not
have to go to a foreign country. He had been referred
to as a Canadian Minister to the mother country, and
he must say it was a pleasure to him to be received in
the kindly manner that he and his associates on the Exe-
cutive Board had been received. He was proud of the
phrase which he had used, coming to the " mother country."
There was no name of which they were more proud in
Canada than that they were sons of Great Britain ; that
they were connected with this great Empire, so glorious
in her past, so great and mighty in her present, and which
had before her such a grand and magnificent future.
They were proud to be connected with Great Britain, but
they were proud also that they were no weak helpless
dependent members of the Empire ; that they were no
encumbering members, for they felt that they in Canada
were bounding forward in prosperity ; they were going
forward with a great tide of healthful blood flowing in
their veins and beating in their hearts, hearts strong for
the present, and big with hope for the future, and hearts
which he trusted would long be true and loyal like British
hearts when waked by the strains of " God save the
Queen."
LONDON : I'RINTED HY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STKEJ;T AND CHAKING CKOSS.
N
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