124 



M " ' Restigouche County. 



MILNE HOME. " ' Overseer Mowat, of the upper division of this county, reports the catch 



" ' of salmon to be double that of last year. This great increase he attributes 



" ' almost entirely to the success of artificial culture, which has added so 

 " ' largely to the natural stock of the river. This increase in the catch has 

 " * incited a great number of persons who never before engaged in the fisheries, 

 " ' to apply for licenses.' 



"' Overseer Ferguson, of the East division, also reports, that the catch of 

 " ' salmon was double that of the previous year, and he also attributes it to 

 " * protection and artificial culture.' (Page 255.) 



" ' Mr. Wilmot in this same letter (page 342] says that the marked success 

 ' 'which has already attended the protection of the salmon rivers in Canada, 

 *' ' and also in some of the maritime provinces, cannot be gainsaid.' 



"As an example he refers to the Restigouche river, in which in the year 

 " 1868 the total catch by anglers was only 20 salmon ; whereas in the year 

 " 18/8, by one angler alone, 80 salmon were killed, to say nothing of the quan- 

 " tities killed by about 100 other anglers." 



Mr. Venning in his yearly report for 1878, makes some remarks of a general 

 nature, which with much force might be addressed to the Government of 

 Great Britain. He says that the facts appearing in his own and his pre- 

 decessors' reports prove "that the time has come, when our fisheries require 

 " ' for their preservation more effective measures than have yet been provided 

 " ' by the department charged with their conservation.' 'These facts show a 

 " ' very alarming decrease in the stock of all the anadromous fishes that 

 " ' frequent our waters. They show that this decrease has been caused by 

 " ' wasteful and extravagant modes of fishing in some places, and by over- 

 " ' fishing and insufficient protection everywhere. They show that fishing 

 " ' operations are annually extending, while protection is becoming less, and 

 " ' that all the causes of exhaustion which follow in the train of a rapidly 

 " ' increasing population, are in full and increasing activity. They show that 

 " ' everywhere, except where artificial culture has arrested the decrease, the 

 " ' salmon fisheries are in the same ' danger.' (Page 266.) 



" ' The success attending the Fish-breeding Establishments in the Dominion 

 " ' with the immense stores of naturalized fish eggs now within their walls, is a 

 " ' matter of much congratulation. The progress made in the science of fish- 

 " ' culture in Canada since its inception, is quite beyond the most sanguine 

 " ' anticipations of its originator and of the Government under whose auspices 

 " ' the work has been carried on, When it is shown that within a few years 

 " ' since the birth of this new industry seven imposing structures for arti- 

 " ' ficial propagation have been erected, and when it is shown that ninety-four 

 " ' millions of fish-eggs of the salmon family have been collected, and that 

 " ' fifty-three millions and upwards, of young fish have been hatched and 

 " ' distributed in the waters of this country, what mighty results may we not 

 " ' look forward to from the introduction of fish culture into Canada.' (Page 

 " 367.) " 



In several parts of these Canadian reports, allusion is made to the arrange- 

 ments in the United States of America for the protection and multiplication of 

 salmon. It appears that the United States Government did not adopt these 

 arrangements, till after a commencement had been made in Canada : — and it is 

 no small proof of the excellence and success of the Canadian system, that after 

 a minute and searching inspection and study of it, the American Government 

 resolved to copy it. It is stated that in 1870 no less than 27 State Legis~ 

 latures had concurred in the necessary arrangements for keeping their rivers 

 and lakes supplied with the different kinds of fish, which are by nature 

 adapted to thrive in them. An immense Fish Hatchery has been established 

 in one of the Western States near the coast, from which fry are sent out, on 

 payment, to any state, society, or individual who applies for them. This 

 Hatchery is upheld by Government. 



I will not trespass farther on your attention by giving more extracts 

 from these instructive Fishery Reports. Allow me only in conclusion to 

 say, that the Canadian Fishery Department seems indebted for its success 

 in keeping the rivers well stocked with salmon, in spite of the disease, to 

 two causes. One has bee n alluded to, viz., the large supplies of young fry 

 which are put into the rivers from the Fish Hatcheries. The other is the 



