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Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 m PRACTICAL NOTES ON THE ,^§Mpiutt fm %t &klmlt% OP THE ST. lL.A.TrilE]VCE. / /^-i-^ J- ■»» » TO "W^IIiZilA.!^ miOIDES, ESQTJIRB, PreakhHt of the Fish and Game Glub. * « » o I » » QUEBEC: FBINTKD AT THE OFFICE OP THE "MORNING CHRONICLE," FOOT OF MOUNTAIN HILL. 1864. ^ i PRACTICAL NOTES ON THE OF THE ST. LAWKENCE. 'i I J^o Willicb'Wh Ttlhodes^ Ssquire^ President of tJie ^ish and Scume Protection ^lidi : Sib :— Iq addressing these notes to you, as Ohairman of the abo^e Association, there is no wish to pay an empty compliment, but a desire to stamp them with the weight of a name long associated in this District, with numerous efforts to promote the deyelopmeut of its agricultural and other resources. From the first moment that the organization of a Society to save from extinction the Fish and Game of the Province was contemplated, there is no one who has displayed a greater interest in its welfare than yourself ; and in submitting these notes for your consideration, it is essential to avoid every statsinent that cannot be supported by incontrovertible testimony. There are persons, no doubt, who consider the increase of Game or the development of Fisheries objects of a frivolous nature ; but, when it is re- membered that a good supply of Fish, or even of Game, affords an inducement to the intending settler, to make for himself a home in the localities where such food abounds, the subject claims some attention — ^besides Fisheries in all countries, as well as in this Province, have been properly classed among real sources of national wealth and industry. No ODO will deny that the Rirer St. Lawrence, the link coDnecting the pure waters of the great lakes with the salt tides of the Atlantic Ocean, joined in its downward course by the Ottawa and the Saguonay, and fed by more than fifty minor tributaries, contains afield for the cultivation of valu- able Fisheries, unrivalled in capacity and extent. When this portion of the continent was first peopled, this vast field formed tlie rich pasture-ground of untold numbers of Fish — indeed most north* em regions, in the earlier periods of their history, were famed for their en- ormous supplies of this wholesome food. So abundant were Salmon at the mouths of certain rivers of Boothia Felix, that 3,378 were captured in a single haul. Sir George Simpson found Salmon so plentiful in the Oolumbia River that as many as 1,000 were captured daily in a basket. A stream in Russian America was so full of Salmon that the ascent of it in a canoe was impeded by their numbers. 50,000 of these Fish were annually captured in one river alone, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence. But a few years ago (1841,) 1,800 Salmon were taken in one tide at Tadousac, at the mouth of the Saguenay, and many other places on our coasts formerly yielded pro- portionate supplies. Canada is not the only country which has suffered by the decline of these Fisheries. The same thing has occurred in England and Wales, in Ire- land and Scotland, in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia^ where enormous quantities of Salmon once existed. It is a lamentable fact, also, that the most valuable of all our Fisheries in the Gulf and River St. Lawrence, that of the God as well as that of the Salmon, appears to be declining ; and at the moment of penning these notes, many hardy and industrious fishermen are threatened with the loss of their daily bread. The Salmon aSecMog the Gulf and River St. Lawrence are identically the same species as the Suhno Salar of the British coasts, possessing the same instincts, and hitve been diminishea by the same means. Both kinds are reproduced in fresh waters, and migrate periodically to the same ocean, where they grow to an equality in size. In the spring and early part of summer the fish which have fattened themselves on the sea coasts return again to their native rivers, there to deposit their spawn. The instinct by which they are impelled at a certain season of the year to make their way from the sea for this purpose — the early-breeding fish ascending to the higher parts of ihe strepms, the later fish in succession sowing the lower portions with their seed, so that, in a natural state of things, the whole course of a river, so far as it affords suitable spawning ground, becomes stocked with the ova, is a most beautiful arrangement. The process of spawning is thus described : —A gravelly shoal is selected over which a current gently flows. The female wriggles herself among the small stones, and with a rapid vibration of the fins, lail and body, turning alternately from side to side, keeps in motion the gravel displaced in forming the bed, thus the sand and lighter particles are drifted away by the stream and car- ried behind her. The mala during this time is in attendance, gambolling about, charging at intruders, and occasionally jostling her. When the bed i > Bly •I i j is made she settles upon it, and beckons to Iier Lord to do the same ; ova and milt are then expressed by the bodily contact of both fish, lying partial- ly upon their sides during a quireriog pressure. The female then sails lei* surely away, absents herself for a short time, again returns, and with the same action used in removing it, restores the gravel heaped on each side in forming the bad to its proper place, stirs more from above, thus covering the impregnated ova, and ending hor labors. In due course the ova are hatched and the young fish emerge from their stony couch and swarm in the stream. On their first appearance there is observed attached to the abdo- men of each a transparent inflated bladder, which gradually disappears, when the young fish go under the appellation of Pj.rr ; about one-half of the Parr assume another s'age during the first year of their existence, and are then distinguished by the name of Smolts. These descend to the sea, and half of them return in a few months as Grilse — the Parr remaining in their native river do not become Smolts and visit the sea until the year following and in a few instances some Parr do not assume the Smolt stage until the third year, and none migrate until they have attained that crisis. It has been ascertained by repeated experiments, efiected by marking the Smolts, that they do not either all return to tneir native river the same year as Grilse —some continue in the sea until the year following, when they re-ascend the fi'esh waters as small Salmon. It appears to be a natural law of these fish to descend to and return from the sea by double or divided migrations. In no instance has nature been more bountiful than in her efforts to preserve the Saliuou tribe from extinction. Every female fish annually de- posits one thousand o ra for each pound of her own weight. This ova may be fecundated not only by the milt ot the full grown male shed with it, but also by the milt of the Grilse and the Parr, and it is never deposited in the sea, for there would be too many enemies ; nor do the young fish commence their journey to the ocean until they have attained sufficient size to warrant so important a step in Salmon li^e. The rapidity, too, with which they in- crease in stature affords another instance of infinite bounty. Twenty months from the deposition of the ova — only two or three of which are passed in the sea — suffices to produce marketable fish. Every fortnight of their stay in the salt water adds over a pound to their weight. Tlie Salmon will make flesh more rapidly than any cake-fed ox or stye-fed pig • he will add pOkind after pound to his own substance for our use and consumption. Born and nursed iu streams whose banks are clothed with the habitations of man, from whom he demands neither attendance nor care, he will descend to the ocean, and there, in rich pastures, fatten and return, offering himself again and again for capture, without cost for maintenance or transport. When nature has been thus profuse in her efforts to multiply these fish for our benefit, the enquiry is naturally suggested — How then has it occurred that, in a sparsely settled Province, they have in so many places disappeared, and in others diminished to so great an extent ? The answer is a short one. They have been destroyed by abuses, wasted by imprudence, netted without discretion, shut out from their breeding- 6 grounds. The few fisb pormitted to reach thorn have beon assailed by spears and mutilated upon their spawning beds. Some of thes*' evils exist even at this hour. Illegal netting and spearing was practised during the present summer. Provisions of the Fisheries ^ ct as well as of the Regulations were in numerous instances contravened. From the year 1 78f) have Fishery Laws been in force in Canada, and since that period twelve or thirteen Statutes with Orders in Council have been enacted. A Government Fisheries Staff ban for the last five years been in existence, at an expense to the country, and yet tlie present season as well as the last has developed *he fact that these Fisheries with very few excep- tions are declining. If tbe laws passed from time to time have served no other object, they at least record the opinions entertained upon the aeces- sity of preserving a free passage for the fish up the rivers, upon the use of improper nets, the disregard of tbe spawning season, and the employment of spears and torch-light in the capture of Salmon. The 28th, 47th and 48th Geo. III. contained provisions on these heads. The 4th, 5th and 9th Geo. IV. did the same. These provisions were repeated in the Cth Wm. IV. Subsequent Statutes, also, the 4th and 5tb and Tth Victoria required tbe rivers to be kept open and unobstructed. The 18th Victoria followed, and its wise provisions should have been engrafted into the 20th Victoria, which repealed it, as well as into the present Fisheries Act, the 22nd Vic, ch. G2. The preamble to the 18th Vic. declared that it was expedient to provide against the destruction of Salmon, Maskinonge, and Trout Fisheries in Lower Canada, which would result from a continuance of the present practice of killing these fish during the spawning season, and with Stake or Barrier Nets, and by the aid of artificial lights at night. The enacting clause rendered it unlawful a' any time to take or kill these fish anywhere in Lower Canada by means of Stake or Barrier Nets, or any other Set/'actins; Machine, but the proprietors of Salmon Fisheries might take and kill Salmon by means of nets other than Stake or Barrier Nets, &c. Now that a Bill to regulate the Fisheries is again before the Legislature, and will no doubt at its next sitting become law, time will be usefully em- ployed in making an impartial enquiry into the nature and properties of the Engines forbidden to be used by the 18th Vic, ch. 114, as too destructive to the Salmon, Maskinonge, and Trout Fisheries. These " Stake or Barrier Nets," which are of universal use in the Salmon Fisheries of Canada, were invented in Scotland, about fifty years ago, and were found to bo effective modes of capture by intercepting the fish in their approaches to the rivers ; they spread rapidly, and some years after were introduced into Ireland as well as into this country. They are formed, as the name implies, of strong netting attached to lor g " Stakes," firmly driven into the shore, and usually extend from high to low water mark. They act npon the principle of a leader against which the fish on their way along the coast to their breeding grounds strike, and are conducted to a narrow open- ing, the entrance to a chamber or trap from which there is no escape. Other engines, the same in principle, formerly used at Swansea, Lynmouth, Bangor and other pieces on the British coasts, and still on both shores of the St. Lawrence, are Bruih Weirs, composed of wicker work, or more rudely of brushwood ; they enclose at the lower end a circular chamber with a narrow entrance ; within this chamber the tish of all kinds and si/.es are left at the ebb of the tide. Thoy are erected la tho spring, and continue fishing day and night without intermission until the frost of winter either renders them useless or warns the fishern n to remove them. The Fishery regula- tions require an open space to be made in the lower part of this chamber, to be covered with net-work, to admit of the passage of the fry aud smalUp fish ; but this provision is defeated by the qimntitios of seaweed and other rubbish which effectually close the apertures at every tide. The Brush . Weirs as well as the Stake Nets are Self-acling Fixed Engines. Of this destructive instrument, the Brush Weir, the late Superintendent of Fisheries for Upper Canada in a recent report wrote — " The system of extending wutling fences in the St. Lawrence has in a great measure des- troyed the Salmon Fishery of Upper Canada." The Stake Net was many years ago condemned by the highest authority, " As all Salmon and Salmon Trout return to their native rivers, so Stake Net fishings ought to be abolished. Salmon do not go far out into the sea, and always return along the coast, scenting out aa it were their native river," says Sir Humphrey Davy. In adverting to the evil done to the Fisheries by the use of these fixed barriers, and in pointing out the course believed to be indispensable to pre- serve what remains of these Fisheries, may be interfering with the gains of a few, who, in large estuaries or other favored localities, still reap a preca- rious harvest from their use ; but I bold it to be due to the public that the destruction cau.'ted by the modes of Ashing hitherto and still practised should be frankly indicated without regard to the private gains of any individual. There is no doubt that the longer these obnoxious Engines are permitted to exist the more difGcult will bo their removal. The instances in older coun- tries of the destitution, the riots, tho bloodshed and loss of life caused by these nuisances to fishing and navigation ought to be a warning to us. The expense incurred before they were efifectually removed from the British shores, apart from the other alUictions they occasioned, was very great. The Imperial Government appointed Commissioners on no less than five occa- sions, and both Houses of Parliament nominated seven different Committees to investigate the causes of the decline of the British Salmon Fisheries. There exists, therefore, within our reach the information collected by the abore means, all of which is condensed in an elaborate Report published by Sir William Jardine, Bart., the eminent naturalist, W. J. Ffennell, Esq., Inspec- tor of Fisheries in England, and G. R. Rickards, Esq., in February, 1861. The principal causes of the decline of the Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales, assigned by these learned men, who formed their opiQions after a careful laTestigation of the whole subject.'and after hearing from experienced und practical witnesses, answers to 18,000 questions, were— 1st. Obstructions to the free passage of the fish. 2nd. The use of Fixed Engines— the latter cause including the former.— « Of all the evils that affect the fisheries,'' say these commissioners, "artifi- cial obstructions must beyond all question be regarded as the most perni- cious, whether such obstructions proceed from the IWxrrlcr nets or from the want of Fish Passes. It is obvious that to prevent the fish from entering the rivers is a surer way of destroying the breed than the most deadly mode of making war upon them when they are tliere. The existence of such ob- structions is a cause fully adequate, if there was no other to account for the gradual disappearance of the fish ; and if effuctual means be not taken to remove the evil, ihe total ~ xiinction of the breed of Salmon must at no dis- tant day be expected." The Encyclopedia Britannica Ed., of 184';, verba Fisheries, contains a tabular statement of thirty years' flahing on the Tay, divided into equal periods of ten years each. The first period, before Stake Nets were used, the. number of Salmon and Grilse taken was 130,854. During the succeeding ten years' use of the Stake Nets, the catch fell to 91,312. The third and last period— after the removal of the Stake Nets, and a rest of five years was afforded the Fisheries to recover— the catch rose to 225,372. These statistica afford conclusive evidence that a net increase by the removal of the Fixed Engines was obtained of 134,060 liah — about 140 per cent. It has been stated, and I think established, by the adduction of both facts and figures, that the causes of the decline of the Salmon Fisheries in the British Isles, up to the time of passing the Imperial statutes of 1361 and 18G3, proceeded from the use of these improper nets ; and as the same Engines have hitherto been exclusively employed on Canadian shores, the decline of our fisheries must bo rationally attributed to the same cause. But a few years ago the Kiver Escoumains was famed for the numbers and size of its Salmon. A Mill Dam impeded the ascent of the breeding fish, and a Brush Weir in the estuary captured the fry on their way down to the sea. Eighteen bushels of Smolts were thus destroyed in a single ebb of the tide. These proceedings soon depopulated the whole river. Some distance below River Quelle, on the south shore of the St. Law- rence, there has been for some years a Fixed Engine, composed partly of Brushwood and partly of Net-work, with meshes of one inch square. This Engine when first constructed used to capture 1,300 salmon annually; bat its destructive powers have so far destroyed itself, that at present not more !jan 1.00 Salmon are taken by it during the season. If the injury caused to tho public by these engines was limited to the extinction of the Salmon tribe alone, great as would be the loss to the Pro- vince, it might nevertheless be sustained ; but the evil does not cease there. All other kinds of fish migrating along the coasts of the St, Lawrence, A- It bo II ' an an sei th \ ■ I 9 eith«r in search of food or of a suitable place to reproduce their species, are likewise destroyed bj them. A zealous missionary, who resided for manj years in the Hay of Fundy, the Uev. Ferdinand Gaurreau, alluding to the ■« » • » I y /f It is quite certain that this fishery has fallen off to such an extent as fore- bodes its ceasing altogether." Cochran Oraig, Esq.. J. P., of Grand Manan, writes to Mr. Perley — " They (Herrings) are also taken in Weirs, which are put down on every bar and in almost every channel which those fish " play" through, and even around our shores. This mode, I think, must bo most destructive, as in securing such as are fit for use, they destroy double the quantity saved, of those that are entirely too small for any purpose whatever but manure." 9 eithor ia search of food or of a suitable place to reproduce their species, are likewise destroyed by thftm. A zealous missionary, whu resided for many yeais in the Bay of Fundy, the Rev. Ferdinand Gauvrean, alluding to the ^O"^ /S''^'^^ /r'^ 5~ It is quite certain that this fishery has fallen off to such an extent as fore- bodes its ceasing altogether." Cochran Oraig, Esq., J. P., of Grand Manan, writes to Mr. Perley — " They (Herrings) are also taken in "Weirs, which are put down on every bar and in almost every channel which those fish " play" through, and even around our shores. This mode, I think, must be mr ^i; destructive, as in securing such as are fit for use, they destroy double the quantity saved, of those that are entirely too small for any purpose whatever but manure." ace their apeeies, are bo resided for manj ^ean, alluding to the t aa extent as fore- tea to Mr. Perley — it down on every bar through, and even li deBtructire, as in > quantity saved, of rer but manure." 1 ? 8 careful investigation of the whole subject.'and after hearing from experienced and practical witnesses, answers to 18,000 questions, were — 1st. Obstructions to the free passage of the fish. , . :^-—- \ \ X- \ •^. ■->_ ^^ '^ .:ir^> 'X. X-. -s" •^< ^ -r ■.. s -* --* -"~ V. I 3 F a a B I ^ Ei d4 ai ofl Br Ei| TB reii Br^ v»'.- . SI. > -i.-. H r^ \ f V -^ ..--'. '■> ■'»«, ■ ■V-- -* -r- %" k ' ^ i.. " ''■%^' '^> ' < <* »; ,♦: . --■-'.,*^ ■•" __v-* MMUUI^^' XUIS Enfe.-wniiou ursi constructed lised to capture 1,300 salmon annually; but its destructive powers have so far destroyed itself, that at present not more ^an 1.00 Salmon are taken by it during the season. If the injury caused to the public by these engines was limited to the extinction of the Salmon tribe alone, great as would be the loss to the Pro- vince, it might nevertheless be sustained ; but the evil does not cease there. All other kinds of fish migrating along the coasts of the St. Lawrence, *->^, ' either in search of food or of a suitable place to reproduce their species, are likewise destroyed by them. A zealous missionary, who resided for many years in the Bay of Fundy, the Rer. Ferdinand Gauvreau, alluding to the condition to which the Shad Fishery would be reduced by these Engines, thus wrote to the Hon. M. H. Perley :->" Standing Weirs and Standing Nets are unquestionably the most efiTective means of destroying Shad altogether in our bays, or at least of thinning their quantity to an incredible degree ; both ought to be discontinued at once, and prohibited by strict laws, and defaul- ters heavily fined." In another part of the same letter the reverend gentle- man adds — '* I reiterate that both Weirs and Standing Nets ought to br. pro- hibited by law, as being destructive to Shad, and very ruinous to our Fisheries and commerce. " The Brush Weirs," writes Mr. Perley, *'are believed to be mostiojurious to the Shad Fishery, as in almost every case they were found to take the smallest fish only." Many other authors could be cited to show the injury done to the Shad Fishery by the Weire as they capture the small fish, and thus cut off the suc- ceeding year's supply. They are as destructive to the Shad Fishery as they are to that of the Salmon. The Herring li^hery, as I shall presently show, is not exempt from the universal distruction occasioned by the use of these Fixed Engines. John Sandall, Esquire, who was long actively engaged in the fisheries ot the Bay of Fundy, writes-— " Herrings are taken around Grand Manan and West Isles by Torch-light and Brush weirs. These Weirs must destroy a great quantity of fry every season." " Formerly," writes Mr. Perley, " the quantity of Herrings cured in this place (Annapolis Basin) was from 25,000 to 30,000 boxes annually ; and twenty years ago the average catch of every Weir was 2,000 boaes each season. The whole quantity now cured (1850) from the catch of all the Weirs together was supposed not to exceed 2,000 boxes." Mr. Ray said " that he formerly cured 1400 boxes of Herrings every season from the ca^ch of his Weir. The quantity gradually diminished to 400 boxes, and after the Weir was placed on the bar it fell off to 200 boxes. During the season (1850) he did not catch a single fish." It was stated by Mr. Riley, of Annapolis, " that about one-half of all the fish caught in the Weirs are entirely lost; that he had sometimes seen 300 or 400 barrels of Herrings, taken during a single tide, left in the Weir to spoil. It is quite certain that this fishery has fallen off to such an extent as fore- bodes its ceasing altogether." Gcchran Oraig, Esq., J. P., of Grand Manan, writes to Mr. Perley — " They (Herrings) are also tct'ken in Weirs, which are put down on every bai and in almost every channel which those fish " play" through, and even around our shores. This mode, I think, must be most destructive, as in securing such as are fit for use, they destroy doable the quantity saved, of those that are entirely too small for any purpose whatever but manure." 10 i « These Standing Weirs," adds the same writer, " are most injurions to the Herring nnd In-shote Fisheries. None that I have talked with on the subject pretend to deny, and they have been many of our oldest and best fishermen, and among them several of the Weirholders themselves." And further on he continues—"! will, with a large majority on my side, say that I consider the extent to which our Ir.-shore Fisheries are and have been injured by ;,he destruction of Herrings, b(>th lit and unfit for proper use, taken in the Woirs, is almost endless. The heavy schulls of Herring fry being yearly cut up by those Weirs, and the Cod having no bait to draw them in-shore, they are only to be found far out in deep water, where boats and small vessels (the poor man's dependence) cannot follow them." Again, " it is considered a settled point by all experienced fishermen on this island that, while so many Weirs are allowed to stand, so long will our Herring and in-shore fisheries continue to decline. So long also must we be annoyed with obstructions to our navigation, which many of the Weirs are at present." " Next to the Weirs," writes the same gentleman, " the tailing off of our Fishery may be attributed to the very great destruction of spawn for many years past. The preservation of spawn ought to be attended to ; but what will be the use of this, if the Herrings are to be fenced in and killed before they are the length of your linger." Augustus F. Kynaston, acting-comcuander of H.M. sloop Persian, wrote to His Excellency Sir E. W. Head, Bart. :— " There are actually Weirs laid down which must necessarily interrupt the course of myriads offish, whicht had they been allowed to pass, could have deposited their spawn unmolested. Independent of this, these Weirs offer a great obstruction to free navigation, and I would venture to suggest their entire removal." Mr. Perley,'in alluding to the Basse (Barfish) wrote — " Basse were very plentiful formerly, but now are seldom seen, having been thinned off by the Weirs and other contrivances." It is not exclusively to thd Salmon, Shad, Herring and Basse Fisheries that these Fixed Engines are ruinous. It has been repeatedly intimated that the Brush Weirs destroy the small fish as well as the fry of the larger kinds It is these small fish that serve as the natural food of the Ood, and wherever this supply fails, there the Ood Fishery must also decline. To destroy this bait by using it to manure the soil is obviously an effectual way of driving the Ood from haunts where such waste prevails. " There has been great complaint of late years," wrote Mr. Perley, " of the falling off in the Cod Fishery in the upper part of the Bay of Ohaleurs— • it is said to be every year decreasing. At Oarleton, Maria, New Richmond, and other places on the Oaspe shore, the fishing establishments are deserted and going to ruin. At these places there was formerly an abundant supply of fish, but the inhabitants now barely catch enough for their own winter 11 ■tore. The decrease is also felt on the New Brunswick shore. The decline of the God Fishery in the upper part of the bay is attributed to the wanton destruction of the proper and natural food of the Cod— Herring and Oapelini which are taken in immense quantities, not for immediate eating, or for curing, or for bait, but for manuring the land. In a representation made to the Legislature by a fisherman of Gaspe, it is stated that this fisherman has seen five hundred barrels of Oapelin taken in one tide expressly for manure, aLd that he has aldo seen one thousand barrels of Herrings caught at one time and left to rot upon the beach." Mr. Fortin, in his report for 1863, states " that at Cap dea Rosiers, Griffin's Gove, Fox River, Natashquan, Kegashka, Meccantins, Whaleshead, on the north shore of the Straits of Belie Isle, on the north shore of New- foundland, on the eastern shores of Labrador, at the River Moisie, in God- bout Bay, and indeed almost everywhere the Cod Fishery failed for want of bait." The present season (1864) affords a sad confirmation of the statements contained in Mr. Fortin's report. Indeed many of the God fishermen will not make sufficient to indemnify them for the expenses of outfit. In some in- stances numbers of employees have been dischargRd, as there was no fish for them to catch. From what has already been stated, and from the inquiries and research made, I am seriously impressed with the conviction that national properties, formerly of great value and importance, have through improvidence and abuse, and through the absence or entire disregard of legislation, been suf- fered to decline, and unless prompt and stringent measures be adopted for their recovery, they will at no distant day be visited with total annihila- tion. At the same time I have no doubt but that with an efficient law promptly and stringently carried out, our Salmon and other Fisheries may be made to yield not only a fair commercial value, but will be capable of supplying a great increase of wholesome food. While our population is augmenting, and while efforts are being made to increase it still more by emigration, no source for the supply of aliment should be overlooked, particularly one which requires neither expense to maintain nor labor to cultivate, but needs only to be judiciously managed to improve its capabilities. The salvation and development of the Fisheries is a matter which con- cerns the public far more than any individual. To the fisherman decrease of numbers may be compensated by increase of price ; to the public it in- volves a decrease of food. The causes which have reduced our Fisheries (apart from the fluctna- tions to which they are all subject) are clear and palpable, and admit to a great extent of a remedy by human means. Il 12 Whatever sacrifices this may at the outset entail upon individuals, will be found to be more imaginary than real, and those now most opposed >o the changes Vhicb should take place in removing obstructions from vue waters, and in constituting a free and open river for all, will in the end bo the most benefitted. It must be obvious from the foregoing remarks that the first thing the recuperation of our SalmoUj Shad, Basse and other Fisheries demands is the introduction of a clause into the Bill now before the Legislature, to remove the Barriers and Fixed Engines hitherto in use. This, as already observed} has been effected by the Legislatures of other countries, where difficulties far surpassing those which beset us had to be overcome for the benefit of all* If it be really imagined on the banks of the St. Lawrence that fish caanot be captured unless the objectionable machinery ia used, let us at once be taught by those who know better, and who have used and are practically acquainted with the working of other Engines in older and more experienced countries. That Fixed Engines are not necessary for the purpose of obtaining a supply offish has already been shown by statistics ; bat let us see what Mr* Ffennell; the Inspector of English Fisheries, says on this subject : — " Falla- cious statements are often made that Salmon cannot be caught efficiently and in good condition by other means than Stake nets ; b'^t a reference to a few facts will be quite sufficient to dispel any illusions on this head. The Got net, Draft net, and Drift net fishermen in the Boyne, the Liffey, the Slaney^ the Suir, the Nore, the Barrow, the Blackwater, the Lee, the Laun, the Shannon, and in very many other places, did catch Salmon in abundance and do catch some still, although not in the numbers they would if the Stake Nets did not monopolize them ; and those fish always did, and still do obtain the first price in all markets. The lessees ef the Duke of Devon- shire's Fishery, from Lismore to Gappoquin, catch plenty of Salmon without the aid of Stake Nets, as also do the lessees of the Moy, Ballyshannon, Q&\- way, Sligo, Liffey, Foyle, and many other fisheries ; and here again the fish bring the first price in the markets. In Scotland, the Tweed fisberiea are more profitable, now that Fixed Engines have been abolished, and more Salmon are captured. The fisheries of the Tay are all worked by Draft nets (seines.) The Duke of Richmond captures many more Salmon withoat the aid of Stake Nets in the Spey than he did with them ; and his fish, as well as bhose of the Tweed and Tay, and the tens of thousands of other fish cap- tured iu Scotland with the net and coble, bring the highest price in the markets." But it may be said this applies exclusively to Salmon Fisheries. How are Shad, Basse and White fish to be taken ? By precisely the same means as the Salmon. Their habits of migrating at certain seasons from the salt to the fresh water, along the coasts in search of food or to deposit their spawn, renders them easy of capture by Seines, when the Stake Net and Brunh Weir bar their progress and force them to shed their ova in places unsuited 13 to its fecundation the Draft Net. Tlie White fiab brought to our markets are captured by tho Mr. Yarrell, in his work on British Fishea, eaya :—" The mode of fishing for Herrings is by Drift Nets. The Nets are only in actual use during the night. The fish strike the Neta in much greater numbers when it ia dark ; the darkeat nigbta are therefore the most favorable. Neta stretched in the daytime alarm the fish and cau?e them to abandon the place where that practice ia followed." The Herring is a native fioh breeding along the lower shores of the St. Lawrence, and never entirel> leaving them, although it retires after th* spawning time and disappears, whether by going to sea or by sinking into the deeper parts of the river, it is unnecessary to enquire. They are taken at the Magdalen Islands in Seines. Pilchards, of which there are ex- tensive fisheries on the coast of Oornwall, are also taken by Seines. The Fishery Bill changes the time for trout fishing, and prohibits the taking of these fiah after the twentieth day of September. This alteration ia not sufScient ; Trout ought not to ba captured after the first of September as their spawning season begina early in that month, and they are from the commencement of it unfit for food. The law of the State of New York, pasaed in 1862, prohibits the taking of Trout between the first of September and the first of March. Since the passing of the statutes regulating the Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales and of Ireland, so short a time haa. elapsed that it has been almost insufficient to afford an indication as to what the fruita of that legialation may be. Nevertheleas, some of the English journals, even at tbia early atage, represent the effect of these recent laws as promising in the highest degree. The Statute applying to England and Wales received the Royal assent in the year 1861, and the third Report of the Fisbery Inspec- tors is thus alluded to by a London journal :— *' Two years and a half have passed since an Act fo^ the Improvement of the Salmon Fisheries in England and Wales came into operation, and the third Report of the Inapectors appointed under it, which haa juat been pre- sented to Parliament, afforda ua the means of eatimating the probable benefits which we shall derive from the measure. It ia gratifying to find that these in no degree fall short of the anticipaiions which we had ventured to in- dulge. Already a most sensible increase of fish appears to be recognized in every one of the rivers to which the Act has been applied. Replies have been obtained from the local managers of the rivers from Cumberland to Oornwall, of thoae which debouch into the English Channel, and of those of Northumberland and Durham, and there is a uniform acknowledgment of the very marked, and in some cases striking, increase in the numbers of Salmon seen and caught. In some instances the improvement baa already affected the markets, and brought the prices down from an average of 2s. to Is. per pound, cucasioually even so low as 8d. Waters hitherto empty • &i ft 14 are reported now to be swarming yith fisb, and in others they hare appeared, not odIj in greater numbers, but dt seasons earlier than has ever before been Icnown. When it is recollected that this improyement can only date its commencement from the first spav7ning period subsequent to the Act coming into operation — yiz., the winter of 1861-62 — and that of the produce of that season only a small proportion can haye by this time contributed to the increase of the breeding stock, so as to afford a supply of Salmon of the second generation under the new regulations, we may gather the more encouragement from the satisfactory reports which are made of the state of the fishings during the year 1863. For it is thus eyident that eyen the small stock to which we were reduced under the former absence of regula- tion is sufficient, such is the wonderfully prolific character of the fish, to giye, under the imperfect protection of the yery first year, a decisiye and inyariable augmentation in the practical supply of this description of food. We may reasonably anticipate that as the arrangements becom" more per- fect, and as the additional breeding stock populates the streaxus hitherto barren, we shall find that we have won by only a little foref jought and fair play, a not inconsiderable source of food made newly yailable to the country. Eyen if Salmon still continues to be a species of luxury, it will become a luxury so common and general as to take the place to some extent of other species of food, and so leaye it to the use of those who cannot directly aspire to luxuries. It is well to remember that, though the new Act is watched oyer by Goyernment Inspectors, there is really no Goyernment action, and none but the simplest of general regulations inyolyed in its operation. All that it pro- fesses to do is — keeping ia yiew that the Salmon is a migratory fish, which must ascend the riyers to breed and descend to the sea to feed — to preyent any single owner who holds a portion of the course it must trayerse from so exercising his rights of property as to extirpate it altogether. The Act, therefore, prohibits the erection of any impassable barrier, such as Dams or Weirs, and any absolutely fatal methods of fishing, such as those by Fixed Nets, or any fishing at all at the time when the fish are out of season and unfit for food. These simple rules are left to be enforced by the owners of the riyers themselyes, who are authorized to form, if they choose, asso- ciations for carrying them into effect, and punishing their breach by the infliction of the statutory penalties. All that the Inspectors haye to do is to watch, in the interest of the public and of natural history, the results of these operations, and to acquaint Parliament with the experience gained and the further measures that are thought to be desirable." The law applying to the Irish Fisheries was passed on the 28th July, 1863, and the effects arising from it in affording employment to increased numbers of poor fishermen in so short a time are astonishing. An English journal thus adyerts to the subject : — " It is pleasant to find that the recent legislation on the Salmon Fish- eries is improying the condition of the fishermen of Ireland, in all the Dis- tricts where the Act has come into full operation. Near New Ross, in 15 psrMcuUr, there are now employed, according to the official returns, 1,392 men, working 348 Drift and Snap Nets, where last year there were only 147 nets, finding employment for 688 men, all of them only one remove from paupers, whilst now each man can earn from £2 15s. to £3 per week. Last year the highest amount paid in one week by buyers of Salmon in New Ross was j£ 105. Since the first of March this year, the money paid there per week for Salmon has averaged from X700 to £1,000." Enough has now been said to satisfy the most skeptical, if not at the same time wilfully blind through self-interest, that our Fisheries have been gradually deteriorated by the barriers and obstacles erected on the shores of the St. Lawrence. These barriers, when they do not wholly arrest the migrating fish, scatter and drive them out of their course while on the way to their natural breeding grounds. The same Eagines have wasted and destroyed the fry of the larger kinds, and have so far diminished the sus- tenance of the Uod as to banish him from long-frequented haunts. The course, and the only one left to restore the Fisheries to their former productiveness, has been plainly indicated ; this course has been tried and confirmed by the experience of older countries. Let Canada, therefore, profit by their example, and the development of the vast field she possesses in the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, for the production of food and wealth for her people, will be readily accomplished. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant. PUBLICUS. Quebec, 1st August, 1864.