CIHM Microfiche Series (Monograplis) iCMH Collection de microfiches (monographies) Caiiadton liwthuM for Htotorlcal Mieroraproductiara / Imlitut eaiMdim d* microrapraductiana MMoiiqiMt ©1995 Technical and Bibliographic Notes / Notes technique et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the tiest original copy available for filming Features of this copy which may be blbllographlcally unique, which may alter any of the images in 'he reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming are checked below. 0 D D D D Coloured covers / Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged / ' — ' Couverture endommag6e I I Covers restored and/or laminated / ' — ' Couverture restaurte et/ou pefficulde I I Cover title missing /t^tttrede couverture marx|ue I I Coloured maps/ Cartes gtegraphiques en couieur I I Coloured ink (l.e. other than blue or black)/ ' — ' Encre de coulisur (i.e. autre que t)leue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations / ' — ' Planches et/ou illustratrans en couleur I I Bound with other material/ ' — ' ReM avec dautres documents Only editkxi available / Seuie editkxi disponlble Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin / La reliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distorston le tong de la marge intirieure. Blank leaves added during iastoratk)ns may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming / II se peul que cartaines pages blanches ajouttes k»B d'une restauration appareissent dans le texle, mais, kxsque cela etait poesiile, ces pages n'ont pas et6 fimtes. /VddHkxial comments / Commentaiies suppMmentaiies: L'Institut a microfilmd le meilleur examplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se pnxurer. Les details de cet exem- plalre qui sont peut-6tre uniques du point de vue blbli- ographique, qui peuvent modifier une innage reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modifications dans la m6th- ode normale de fllmage sont indk)u6s ci-dessous. I I Cotoured pages/ Pages de couleur I I Pages damaged / Pages endommagtes r~| Pages restored and/or laminated / ' — ' Pages restaurees et/ou pellkajMes 0 D Pages discokxjred, stained or foxed / Pages dicxtories, tachettes ou pk)utes I I Pages detached/ Pages d«tachies [^ Showthrough/ Transparence ra Quality ol print varies / ' — ' Quality inigaie de I'imprBsskH) I I Includes supplementary material / Compiend du materiel supplimentaire I I Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata ' — ' slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image / Les pages totalement ou partieilement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont iti fllmies i nouveau de fa(on k obtenir la mellleure image possible. Opposing pages with varying colouration or discolouratlons are filmed twk:e to ensure the best possible image / Les pages s'opposant ayant des colorations variables ou des decol- orations sont fllmees deux fois afin d'obtenir la meilleur image possible. Thii i Ctdo 10X Mm it amK filma ntst dat« fibni iMrad ■UUI 1«X IX di riduction indieiii ci-dtnous lax 22X MX XX J UX itx ax 2«X 28X 32X Th* ecpv fllmad h«r« hu ba«n raproducad thank* to Iha ganaroaitv of: National Library of Canada L'axamplaira nimt lut raproduit grtca i la gAntroait* da: Blbllothiqua natlonala du Canada Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara Mm baat quality poaaibia conaidaring tha condition and laglbillty of tha original copy and in liaoping with tha filming contract apacif icationa. Laa Imagaa sulvantaa ont ttt raproduilai avac la plua grand «oln. eompta tanu da la condition at da la nattat* da I'aiiamplaira filmt. at an eonf ormit* avac la* condltiona du eontrat da fllmaga. Original copia* in printad papar covar* ara fllmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad Impraa- aion, or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original copiaa ara filmad baginning on tlia firat paga with a printad or Illuatratad impraa- aion. and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraaaion. Laa asamplaira* orlginaua dont la couvanura »n papiar aat Imprimda aont fllmta an commancant par la pramlar plat at an tarmlnant aoit par la darniira paga qui comporta una amprainia d'Impraaaion ou d'llluatration. soit par la laeond plat, aalon ia eaa. Toua laa autra* axamplairaa originaux aont filmta an commandant par la pramMra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'llluatration at an tarmlnant par la dami#ra paga qui comporta una talia amprainta. Th* laat racordad frama on aach microficha slwll contain tha lymbol ^^ (moaning "CON- TINUED"!, or tha aymbol V (moaning "END"), whichavar appliaa. Un daa aymboiaa aulvanta apparaltra lur la darnitra Imaga da ehaqua microficha. lalon la caa: I* aymbol* — » algnlfl* "A SUIVRE". I* *ymboi* ▼ *ignifl* "FIN". Mapa, plata*. chart*, ate. may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratioa. Thoaa too larga to ba antlraiy IncJudad in ona axpoaura ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar. laft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa a* raquirad. Tha following diagrama iliuatrata tha mathod: Laa eartaa. plancha*. tabiaaux, ate. pauvant itra fllmOa i daa taux da rOduction dlfftrant*. Lorsqu* la documant aat trop grand pour ttra raproduit an un aaul cilcht. il aat flimA t partir da I'angla lupdriaur gaucha. da gaucha i droita. at da haut an baa. an pranant la nombra d'Imagaa n4caaaaira. l-aa diagrammaa auivants illuatrant la mithoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 maoccrr mmuTioN tbt chait (ANSI ISO TEST CHAIIT No. 2) ■^l.^-^ Mmm us ■— ■ 27 1^ 1.8 ffljj^iu U^ A /APPLIED I^VGE 1653 Cost Main Slr««t RochMltr, N*K Tork 1*609 US/ (716) *82 - 0300 - PhrtM (716) 288- 5989 -Fa. .jy-3 ■tk^mik /r»d X'^-^^^-c*^^^' ITlSKTT-nVE PER CIlfT. EXPORTED. ' j" Ninety-five per cent of the catch is exported. In an exporf trade of any kind the best samples or stock are usually shipped ; 1,128,615 lbs. would bt Ontario's proportion (5 per cent) of the 22,572,300 lbs. fish caught in 1905. An increase in price of 5c per lb. means a loss of $66,430 to the Ontario fish con- •iimen. It U admitled tliat the fialicrici are being dntroyed, ind that the beit of oi>r commercul Hahing waters are fast approaching the condit.on of Uke Ontario. That, what once were, our inagniBccnt lake fiaheriea should be saved from dcKtruction goes without saying. Jtut there arc difficulties to bo surmounted. Ctw Oct Duticctivi Nets. If the destructive small-meshed pound nets are abolished, as it is admitted thoy should be, a revenue of $26,500 vanishes. If seines are condemned as destructive and barbarous, that takes another $1,307 from revenue. If the small gill net mcsli is increased to five inch extension, as it must be to save the fisheries, half the gill net licenses would be abandoned; that would be another loss if $6,607. All the hoop nets, $2,780. Without revenue to meet expenditure, the present system would collapse, and if the present system is continued the fisheries will collapse. Thk Sick Firheues. Departments, or branches of departments, are frequently conducted without revenue that will meet expenditure, but compensation and indirect advantages arc looked for in the shape of improvemenU or increased wealth to the country. It would be ver\- exceptional to conduct a department on those lines for the purpose of destruction. The Tlshery Depart- ment had the dry rot Staff and overseers had simply to look at something which was gradually disappearing. It only requires a moment's thought to know that if fish that have never spa^vned are taken and marketed, extinction must follow, and within a very short period. The bulk of the fish taken were undersized and immature. Federai. Goverkment's Hiohtb. The Federal Government, by the decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, has the power to abolish the T»rion« ronclcnined nct« and menhrs now in um for intrc 'ng fl«h. If it noglwt* or rcfinr to t«ko »ny action, the prov .oe hat the power to witlihold liceniies to fluh with mich net*. Tub Okadlt Pound Hsn. A do«cripfion of the rariout nrt» now in ii»c in our waters may lie of interest. The pound net in llie principal engine and is an American invention. It is a fixture. It begins with a lead about 70 rods long runninf; from near the shore to wliat arc called hearts; tlic fish so led into the hearts arc there further guided tliroHgh an entrance into a pot or pound, with a nu'sh an inch aqiiare. That pot can he lifted and the fish taken into boats. This pot is set in about 20 to 30 feet of water. The net is set with stakes 45 to .50 feet long, firmly driven and sot, so as to withsta storms. A pound net pot 20 to 25 feet square and 20 to .' feet deep gives some idea of this destnictivc engine. Ten tons of fish can easily be taken at a lift. Its fatal defect is that it destroys whitefish and lake trout not only five inches in length, but millionr " recently spawned fish are mixed up with sometimes tons o) ,c larger fish when the pot is lifted. Professor Prince has described how these minute fish, some- times barely visible to the eye, are destroyed where seines are drawn. The destruction is even greater when a pound net pot is lifted. The pot is a sort of refuge for minute recently hatched fish. They go through the small inch bar mesh for shelter and to their destruction. The Coxdemnkd Seines. The seine is too well known to require description. Pro- fessor Prince condenras it wholly for commercial fishing, but one of its most objectionable features is not mentioned. To draw a seine it is apparent to any one that every obsti action in the water must k. removed. Stones, boulders, old stumps, logs, branches weeds, every refuge the small fish have, and in many cases supplying them with food as well as shelter, every 6 protection and refuge nature gave to the small fish to make them safe from their enemies, must be removed. The seine is cruel as well as destructive. It was justifiable in the early days when settlers required fish to eat, and could not get food in any other way. Those conditions no longer exist. More- over, tile fish now taken with seines are shipped to the States. The Gill Nets. Oill nets have fewer objectionable features than any other net, and are ample for commereial fishing in our waters. They are usually set in deep water. The meshes are of a size to take the commercial fish: lake trout, whitefish and her- rings, also blue pickerel. This last fish is almost as objection- jible in our waters as the carp, but happily it has made its habitat in the east end of lake Erie. It is as distinct from the dore, or yellow pickerel, as the wolf is from the lamb. The blue pickerel go in shoals like herrings; when on the run {usually in the fall) tons are taken at a lift in herring gill nets. Very few herring are then taken; they seldom run together. A three-inch extension meab is correctly used for herring, but a too small mesh is now in use for whitefish and lake trout That objection to gill nets can be rectified. Gill nets are now fished too late in the fall, taking the finer kinds of fish when congregated for spawning. Tbap Nets. The trap net is par excellence the poacher's net It is practically a small pound net, anchored, and not being set with stakes, and no portion of it above water, can only be found by grappling. Poachers can go direct to it, its location being marked by shore objects. If our fish were not shipped to the States from every fishing point, the poacher's occupation would be gone. It is the high price now paid for our fish, shipped to the States, that makes poaching pay. Hoop Nits. The hoop net is a small net set in water four or five feet deep. Wherever set it is an indication that fishing in that locality is about played out. This net can be put in the water for about $5. Wherever set (like the seines) it usually destroys game fish, and consequently rod-and-line fishing. Five hundred and fifty-four of these hoop nets are now licensed. B1.ACK Bass and Stubqeo:^ Two fishes, strangely distinct in their character, are now attracting attention; one from a sportsman's point of vierw, the other on wholly commercial grounds. Black bass may be described as the last of the game fish of Old Ontario. The efforts to protect them have not been successful. One defect in the present system of protection for game fish is that it is too paternal. Given proper close seasons, the enforcement of the law should be left to the county and township authorities. Up to date the local authorities have been educated not to interfere with that central power located in the Parliament Buildings. Should Extend Cix>gE Season. The dose seas(m for black bass should be extended to July 15th. Even at that date some of the fish have not spawned. It is generally known now that black bass protect and look after their young brood for a fortnight or three weeks after they take life. The young are piloted by the parent fish to localities where they can feed in safety from their predaceous A black bass deposits from 3,000 to 10,000 eggs. As the nests are guarded by the parent fish during the hatching pro- cess, which is short, the crop of young fish is fairly complete. The angler who takes a black bass between June 15th and July 15th — that is, daring the hatching and guarding pro- cess— ^practically destroys from 3,000 to 10,000 fish which 8 might otherwise have reached maturity. By extending the close season to July 15th, only one month, no amount of rod fishing would make a perceptihle reduction. ElTFOBCE THE ClOSE SeASGN. The present regulations limiting the catch and prohibiting sale are vexatious and are not obeyed. If the duties of con- stables, overseers and game club employees were limited to enforcing a close season only, and the restrictions limiting catch and prohibiting sale removed, the general public would approve every conviction for a violation of the close season. The people of Ontario do not like class legislation, and the present regulations incline tliat way. The sturgeon, which even fifteen years ago had little value, is now the most valuable fish in our waters. The money is in the eggs, which, by hand manipulation being converted into caviare, reach a value of $1 per pound. As from 15 to 30 lbs. of eggs are taken from a sturgeon, according to size, and as the meat brings from 6c. to 8c. per pound, a full-grown fish becomes of about the same value as a cow. As this fish is captured wholly for export, and before spawning, its extinction, one might say, has been criminally rapid. Lake Ontario, as late as ♦'e 60's, abounded in stur- geon of a very large size. The catch of sturgeon in our lakes and rivers in 1897 was 1,776,950 lbs. It is now reduced to 485,200 lbs. But the most recent instance is the Lake of the Woods. A few years since 716,000 lbs. of sturgeon meat and 63,800 lbs. caviare were taken out of Ontario's half of that lake in one season. That lake is now one of the " has beens." The destruction of whitefish and trout in the Lake of the Woods is on the same scale, and all has been done since the process of destruction from present methods was fully under- stood. Save the Fisu. The taking of sturgeon should now be prohibited. There are enough left for seed. The eggs cannot be fertilized and hatched artificially; experience has shown that the process of nature cannot be improved upon. With all the appliances now in use for taking sturgeon, the renmant will vanish like a flash. Fortunately it is an abnormally reproductive fish. A full-grown sturgeon will deposit from 50,000 to 1,500,000 eggs, and the young, soon after hatching, are so well protected by natural formation as to be all but immune from attacks by predaceous fish. To protect this fish would mean an almost fabulous increase of wealth in our waters. For its destruction the province may be said to have received practically nothing in return. Even the salt, with which the eggs are cured and made into caviare, is imported from Germany, and German kegs or packages are frequently sent out so as to give the caviare the appearance of a European product. Even now, this fishery question, this veritable heritage, has been but barely touched. One is reminded of the great Cecil Rhodes on his death-bed saying, " So little done: so much to do." There is a delusion in reference to the preservation of the fisheries which is and has been persistently published, and that is the alleged impossibility of protecting fish which can swim from our waters into the American waters. At the time of the Boer War, the late Lord Salisbury attributed the ignorance of the English people to their study- ing military movements from small maps. The fishery ques- tion is not only misunderstood for the same reason, but nearly all the views published for years on the subject of the fisheries have emanated from a fishing quarter. A Good Tcen fhom Amehicaits. Professor Prince, the highest authority on the subject, says: " The American methods of fishing without restriction a»id at all available seasons have been disastrous to their fish- 10 eries and, upon strict inquiry, of very little injury to ours." He gives reasons which are conclusive to all excepting those who do not wish to be convinced. Prof. Prince limits his remarks to fish, but it is the hatit of birds, when a flock or bevy has been reduced or decimated, to join another flock. It is the same with animals. The Indian tribes did it The Scotch clans also. " Anything for a quiet life " is the rule with almost everything that has life. The American fisheries are persistently worried. The Professor might have gotie fur- ther and said that American methods had benefited our fisheries. Ontabio's Fish Rations. Figures in relation to the fisheries are interesting. On- tario has a population of 2,500,000, and the yearly consump- tion of our lake fish is 1,128,615 lbs. (the 5 per cent, not shipped to the States). That is less than half a pound a year for each man, woman and child. Waste in cleaning has to be considered, and the consumption by travellers in hotels and restaurants. One-quarter of a pound of fish would prob- ably be the quantity which might be consumed in twelve months by each of our inhabitants. That means that hundreds of thousands of our people never taste fish. In fact, we have ceased to be fi&h consumers. Even Toronto, the centre of our intelligence, is a wretched fish market compared with an American or any other civilized city of the same size. Half a pound of fish supplied daily for a year to each inhabitant of Ontario (which would be a quarter of a pound .vhen cooked) would require 456,250,000 lbs. That would be twenty times the entire ''*>tch of our waters at the present time. ■i"^^ The Outstasdino Fact. No criticism of these figures can weaken or affect the argument that our birthright has been sacrificed in this respect, and not even a mess of pottage obtained for it. With our rapidly increasing population and wealth, ancf 11 a ciying demand for " pure food," this is a matter which must now be looked at " straight in the face." When the late Govemment took over the fisheries in 1898 the American tariff should have been considered. That alone, apart from the depletion of the fisheries, was a justification to encourage home consumption. There was then, and is now, an import duty on our lake fish going into the United States. That amounted to $58,884 on the 21,553,655 pounds we sent there in 1905. That was the smallest sum we ever paid the United States for allowing them the privilege of eat- ing our fish. Had we salted or smoked those fish then we would have paid three-quarters of a cent per pound duty, or $161,- 652. That latter duty was, of course, prohibitory, on salted or smoked herrings, and intended to be so. Were it not so it would be increased. We have thus not only destroyed our fisheries for the benefit of the Americans and given them $58- 884 in Customs duties (yearly), but we have been instru- mental in building up a great salting and smoking fish indus- try in the United States, which, had we restricted exportation, might have been a Canadian industry. An Ijjdustby We Should Hate. It is not only fresh fish which might be (and which a few years ago were) peddled throughout the townships, but salted and smoked fish would not oaly be largely consumed in our cities, towns, and villages, but would alt '••3 distributed by peddlers throughout all parts of the coun. districts, mining and lumber camps. A salting and smoking industry in this province at the pres- ent time is undeveloped. It is carried on in a slovenly, spas- modic manner. The people of Ontario have not only been given a distaste for fresh fish by being supplied with undersized, half-grown, soft fish, not sufficiently grown to become flaky, and wholly devoid of taste, but the smoked and salted fish are selected from a quality too stale for transportation to the United States. And as the fishermen say, " They must be 12 salted or smoked to save their lives." Any one familiar nith our fishing industry would not touch a salted or smoked herring, Ilf THE LOWEB PbOVIKCES. There is nothing new in this ; it has happened elsewhere. In the last report of the Marine and Fishery Depar.i.ient, issued at Ottawa, page 108, it says (in reference to one of the lower provinces) : " Our fish are put up in the most shameful way. Most of the fishermen use more salt than is needed. One object is to cheat. The fish remain so long out of the water before they go into the salt that it is impossible to cure them. It is necessary to have herring perfectly fresh, and they should at once be sprinkled with salt. The gills and gut must he taken clean away with a sharp knife, and the roe and milt left in the fish ; second Liverpool fishery salt should be exclusively used. Any one reading this report in full and with a knowledge of the unwholesome way in which our lake fish are now cured for the market would have some idea of the great possibilities of a sailing and smoking industry in Ontario if properly con- ducted. It cannot be done in a slipshod way by fishermen, and from stale fish. It is an industry requiring special knowledge and skilled labor. This industry can never be established under the present licensing system. Both the quantity, quality and price of the supply would be too uncertain for any one to venture capi- tal in it 5,000,000 lbs. of herrings were taken in Ontario waters in 1905, clearly a foundation for an industry with great possibilities. PtTBE Food. There is now a cry in Ontario, and, indeed, throughout the world, foi pure food. Boric acid, a chemical almost as deadly as arsenic, makes old meat look fresh, and it gets into t' - canning factories in a specially prepared salt. Sugar has 18 many deadly substitntes. Surch in almost every form is par- aded ag a breakfast food and a " health food " ; and still we sacrifice to the gain of a few that article of absolute purity, the fresh fish of our lakes, which nature gave us a free gift And this is the end of that bombastic announcement made in 1899, " that there would soon be a large increase in the supply of fish and a perceptible improvement in the fishing industry." Cheap Fisu IJeeded. Cheap electric power has aroused the whole of Ontario. Surely this question of cheap, pure fish would be a greater boon! Fish can be distributed cheaply. Our existence in this world is a misery without health, and that health we have not at present Catarrh, eczema, piles and rupture are fright- fully prevalent. These and many other complaints, the result of heated blood, are caused usually by a continuous, unbroken, strong meat diet from infancy to middle age. It was an economy with the early settlers to have fish upon their tables; a breakfast table without fish was exceptional. Their tomb- stones register eighty, eighty-five and ninety years, and they were free from complaints making life a burden. This in a measure the late Government in 1898 and sub- sequently had the power to rectify. . did not rise to the occasion, although in touch with ths Ottawa authorities. Every defect in previous management was intensified, and we fail to discover that the late Government had the faintest indication of a capacity to handle and develop this great heritage. JoiHT Adthobity. A few years before Confederation, when the government of the country was at a deadlock, " some joint authority " was proposed as a remedy. That is what we now have in the fish- eries. The Privy Council left with the Federal Government the power to make such regulations as would prevent the prov- inces from destroyinji; the fisheries. That power has been exercised in a peculiar manner. 14 ''■''■'': Beoaki Dhhowmt Tbubtiib. In the month of June, 1904, in anticipation of the Ontario e^ectioM, the then Opposition were " Alveratoned " in the Lake Ene .hore con.tituencie.. A «,p wa, thrown to the flahermen ky the Federal Government by auapending the cloae «a8ona. ■At the eame time the reserved waters in the North Channel of Georgian Bay were opened for destruction. FsESEnT System Bad. There can be no future for the fisheries under the present "ystem. It IS impossible to look into the future, but surprise, can be guarded against. Government ownership and munici- pal ownership have of recent yea»-s become an accepted prin- • jAMza Noils. Hr. Jamei Noble (since deceased), of the firm of J. Ie 0. Noble, gave valuable evidence. He, being duly sworn, said: " I live at Killamey, and am engaged in fishing for the last seventeen yeare. I am a dealer in fish also. The 6-incb mesh became unprofitable and we use a 4 1-2 inch mesh to take the smaller sized i'- ih ; we pay 3 8-4 cents per pound to the fisherr -m fee whitefish, salmon trout, pickerel, and black bass. We ship our trout to the Buffalo Fish Company, «ta Collingwood. " There are many other companies on the Oeoigian Bay which sell to the Buffalo company — C. Duffy, of Byng Inlet, and Purvis Brothers, at Gore Bay. The Buffalo company have two tugs which are ^ent around to ga^er fish from the other companies ; our contract calls for 1,600,000 lbs. of fish. We furnish the fishermen with such fishing gear they may want: boats, nets, etc., and sell them such provisions as they require. Our business was first commenced about fifteen years ago — in 1877 — ard has been increasing every year since. We at first dealt only with a Canadian company, which sent fish throughout Canada and to the States. That lasted about one year. The following year we contracted 20 with the Buffalo company; we then bought ,.hitefi,h and .ahnon trout from the fishermen at 4 1-2 TnU e. f The« fish now sell ,n Toronto and other Ontario towns and l^ when they can get them, at 40 cents to 75 cents each 0„r busmess finally ran up to a million and a har^undteaS boats. We do not expect a continuance of this busing as rate the filhL ."/'"*-^^^*^'^« fishing goes on at the same rate, the fishing industries in the Georgian Bay and North Channel cannot ast long. Therefore we think'some sT^nJ measure must be brought to bear to protect the fisheries oZf wise the formerly great fisheries in this section of le p^l" will soon be done away." province "The pound nets with 1-inch and 1 1-2 inch mesh have destroyed immense quantities of young fish of all kindT Ss should be prevented, as it is one of the greatest evils. S ^e spawning Ume should be protected, as they are not !o ^ as at other times. They are then sof ..r ani ha^e mo" b^e upon them, and are not so suitable for transport C spoil much more readily at this time. Fisherme^ could no^ stand a proper 6-inch mesh now, not if they were giTn thr^ years to make the change; they could not make it Z tZ would no take out licenses. The fisheries will never r^u perate unless better protected and they get into bltrhanr^ On the Bhoad Boad. Notwithstanding all this evidence from men of high stand cr!!L nn ^"^'^°""^ i° ""-"ber, and fisherren in- creased Gill nets jumped from 287,554 yards to 879 8M yards m ^e North Channel, and from 80,000 yards ntS! Georgian Bay to 863,100 yards; at the sa^e time the calh in im toeeO^S,^''' '''*""^' '^" ^'^ M02,706t and m the Georgian Bay from 3,627,400 lbs. in 1892^38^: 21 820 lU. in 1005, a decrease of 3,293,780 lbs. and fishery influences prevented the introduction of a 5-inch mesh. The fisheries of the Georgian Bay and North Channel are even now as much a thing of the past as the late Govemment, which permitted them to go to destruction. A letter has recently appeared in the Mail and Empire attributing this waste of our wealth to suckers. The " suck- ers" who have steered our fisheries to destruction are very much alive, and in business in Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo and New York. The people of the province are now beginning to understand the fuU enormity of the rockless, senseless, an! to put It mildly, questionable management of this great heritage. Ill the Detroit River, where millions of whitefish were taken during the spawning season, not a sucker was taken They were in their proper feeding grounds. It was the same along the Lake Ontario shore when the great hauls were made dunng the spawning season. No suckers were taken, although seines draw in every fish. It was the same in Lake Huron, on the great Au Sable spawning beach: no suckers were there. Until quite recently sturgeon were considered spawn eaters. Scientific inquiry and the use of the microscope have proved the contrary. Does the Suckeb Eat Spawn. It is more than doubtful whether the sucker is a spawn eater. The suckers were placed in our waters by the great Creator as a food fish for other fishes. They are the first to spa^-n in the early spring, running up the rivers and creeks in advance of all other fishes. All fishes can follow them with a certainty of having their proper food. Suckers are not only a pilot fish, but a complete commissariat department in our waters. They have an exceptionally large swim bladder, which, when done feeding, enables them to float at ease from the bottom, making them a conspicuous and easy prey for predaeeous fish. A ten-pound pike or maskin- 23 oi«B wiU ^fallow the largest sucker. Nature', plan with thi. fish was clearly to protect the finer kinds of fish. All fish with teeth are cannibals and will devour the young of their own species If they cannot get the food to which their natural instincts direct them. In trout culture it is well known that the larger and smaller fish must have separate ponds. The female of the black bass is a bom cannibal, and is driven away from the young brood by the male for this reason. When our Great Lakes were first opened for commercial fishing, whitefish, the most helpless of all our fishes, predom- inated over all oilers, and suckers abounded. In Lake On- tario and Lake Erie, following the destruction of salmon trout, the burbot (also called ling or eel ponts), a most destructive fish, increased in vast numbers, but there has been no percept, ible increase in suckers. In Long Point Bay, the great breeding and spawning place for Lake Erie, there are few suckers. The hard or predaceous fish feed upon them. The suggestion that suckers destroy our whitefish is that sort of defence recently put in by a man in England caught killing a sheep. He said, " It tried to bite him." IV. In 1899 the first report of the Ontario Fisheries Depart- ment was issued. It is there stated that the Hon. Mr. Hardy Ihen Premier of Ontario, at a conference held at Ottawa, was assured that in relation to the fisheries there need be no serious apprehension of any conflict in authority in the exer- cise of their several functions, and generally, that the unity of opinion on the part of both Governments would prevent aU The Govebnmbnt Knew. It may not be generally known that the Hardy Govern- ment, and subsequently the Ross Government, were fully aware of the then deplorable condition of the fisheries. The same report (1899) says: " That the department found, up"' surviv d to be as large as herrings were caught in our fishermen's small- meshed nets and shipped to the States. Inadequate Results. th/!!"*""* T'^'" *" '"P"" ""y satisfactory result, from the planting of these millions of fi,h in our waters, Z can any return of any kind be discovered to warrZt ^.s great expenditure of money. On the contra" i 1 tits V*.'" '^" 7 encouragement to the LI can trusts (x> keep control of our fishing industry and rake m the "substantial profits." If the great he'rit^ can now only be preserved U> us through the ifstl ^ of natchenes, a clean sweep must be made of the present was^u system of fishing and export prohibited of TnTh artificially propagated. An Expest OpraioN. In eference to this, Professor Prince savs: "A, I have se Superior — have been planted for long periods of years with vast quantitiea of fine fish, and yet the old plenteoiuneaa hai not been reatored. Inceaaant overa«hing, and all kinds of destmetive fishing, as well as the capture of small, immature fish, has gone on without 'limitation." And the professor might have added, "with unlimited extension." You will search in vain in the seven annual reports of the Ontario Department of Fisheries to find that theoe words of warning and wisdom had made any impression. On the contrary, everything that was wasteful and unrestricted was inten- aified. Nbveb Taste Qood Fish. The people of Ontario have very largely emigrated from the British Isles, where they were accustomed to the fishes of the sea. The excellence of our whitefish, salmon trout, pick- erel and others of our fresh-water fishes have been unknown to them. The limited supply coming to the cities and towns (even herring) have been so high priced a? to be beyond the reach of the masses. The supply has also been undersized, tasteless, soft and spawning. Not one in a thousand has ever tasted a full-grown fish in good condition. Ko blame can be attributed U> the present generation or to the new population of recent years for the little interest they have hitherto shown in the protection and preservation r" our lake fisheries. But this throws the greater blame upon the department, where they had full knowledge of the excellence of the fish and the value and extent of the fisheries. Where there should have been activity and careful supervision there was supineness and neglect. SUBBENDEB TO THE TbcsTS. The great heritage has been wasted and permitted to be controlled by American trusts. The millions of fish propa- gated in our hatcheries at enormous expense have been de- stroyed before reaching maturity. The American companies S7 h»Te been permitted to acoumnlate fortunes by miking day laborers of our fishermen and depriving the people of Ontario of thjir rights. The province prac'icalty makes nothing and loses everything by this " give away " of our heritage. The very worst disclosures in life insurance circles cannot compare with this mismanagement. Whether the great heritage has been scuttled and pillaged by pirates or allowed to drift upon the rocks by an inexperienced crew, the position remains the same — our fisheries have reached extinction point. The Hatcheries AcoorNT. For one year, ending June 30th last, $13,378.27 was ex- ponded in maintaining the Newcastle, Ottawa and Sandwich hatcheries. This expenditure has continued annually for nearly forty years, sometimes more, and occasionally a less sum, and the entire output from these concerns has been wasted. The amateur savants in the department who now report upon the habits and condition of the fisheries should be assisted or replaced by some biological expert with special knowledge, enabling him to give a report upon the food and habits of our lake and other fish, with a view to their preser- vation. This can only be done by a resident officer. Prof. Prince has given us invaluable information. His duties ex- tend from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but his views would always be of value, and would be freely given in consultation with an Ontario biological expert. An Expebt Needed. The necessity for such an officer is too clearly shown in the various Ontario fishery rerports. The phenomenal increase of pike in Burlington Bay is there explained by c,;e official by the carp having driven the pike off their feeding groimds. Predaceous fish make their habitat where they can get their food easiest. A biological expert would no doubt explain this phenomenon by finding that the young of the carp had become the food of the piko, and that carp weie an attraction for them. For this reason a close season might be recommended for pike to ensnre their increase as carp destroyers. The Black Bass aud thi Cabp. This same phenomenon has occurred in long Point Bay. The black bass of Lake Erie have concentrated there since the coming of the carp to such an extent and in such numbers that thousands of bass have been taken to stock the rivers and smell lakes of Ontario without apparently depleting the Long Point Bay waters. The black bass now feed upon the yoimg of the carp, and no longer prey upon the young of their own species. Another amateur savant in the same fishery report says a two-pound whitefish is a luncheon for an eight-pound sabnon trout. A salmon trout is only half grown at fifteen pounds' weight. Such a statement tends to encourage the destruction of immature trout. We have evidence that lake trout and whitefish have separate feeding grounds and do not herd together. When the whitefish cc; .e to the =l,orps to spawn the lake trout have spawned and left. A lake trou, has been opened for inspection and six herring found inside. TuE Food foe the Tbout. The herring is a graceful fish, built to be swallowed by other fish. A two-pound whitefish has a hump on its back, and, as fish do not chew their food, could not be swallowed. Wher- ever the salmon trout have been reduced in numbers from over-fishing there has been a corresponding increase in the herring, the fish they preyed upon. This is very apparent in the Georgian Boy and Lake Erie. The views of amateur scientists usually tend to confusion. HCNHISO THE GahHTLET. Last ye?- over 30,000,000 whitefish fry were deposited in the Detroit River from the Sandwich hatchery, on the suppo- sition that they would be carried by the currents of the river and the lake to the deep water at t'- - east end of Lake Erie, M there to mature. On this eventful journev of nearly 300 mile», these small whitefish ran the gauntlet of two hundred and fifty Ontario amall-meahed pound nets, beginning at Polee Island. An examination of the thoueands of minute and small fish crushed and mangled at every lifting of these nets should be made to ascertain if these hatchery fish are destroyed in infancy. If they are, the pound nets should cease their deadly work, or the hatchery its useless efforts and expenditure. It may even be found that the drawing of seines in the Detroit River to get the eggs and milt for the hatchery may destroy millions of naturally fertilized eggs, which would have produced fish by natural process and with- lan expense. Its Usbfui-nkss Gohe. The run of whitefish to the Detroit River has been so re- duced that the Sandwich hatchery may yet cease its work as a whitefish establishment. In tills connection, a remarkable circumstauce happened with the Newcastle hatchery. This hatchery was established to preserve the run of sea salmon, which then frequented Lake OaUrio for spawning. Whether the female salmon objected to the rough handling in this pisoi- cultural lying-in establishment, or the absence of trained nurses, is not known, but in a few years the run of salmon from the sea wholly ceased, nor has it evor been renewed. It was then converted into a salmon trout hatchery and fertilized fi"^ from Wiarton sent there for trestment. Ax Opk.v Qurstion. Many fishes cannot be artificially propagated. It is bv no means settled that the artificial planting of whitefish in our (ireat Lakes has been a success or ever will be. The planting of salmon trout may be. With the salmon trout, however, there is tliis present difficulty. The males precede the females to the spawning beaches and are netted before the females follow on. The result is that milt from the male fish is L. '*'*'"" Aren,,,, Toronto.