FISIIKKIES, GAMK AND FORESTS. I4I 



Thus a total of 140,910 fish of all kinds were on hand October 1, 1896, in place of 

 36,700 turned over in May, 1895, by the old Commission, according to the report of 

 1894, practically all of which were lost by the flow of poisened water in June 

 following. 



The Legislature has already passed a law limiting the catch of black bass to be 

 taken by one person in one day ; and we would recommend that a similar law be 

 passed to regulate the number of pounds of trout to be taken in one day by one 

 person, so that not to exceed ten pounds of brook trout nor twenty pounds of lake 

 trout may be taken or possessed by one person in one day. 



Section 249 of the Game Law should be repealed as it puts a premium upon crime 

 in sister States that have non-export game laws, as most of them have, and is a 

 menace to the game in our own State, and makes it difficult to convict game-law 

 violators who kill our game out of season. This section permits the sale of game at 

 any season of the year, if it can be proved that the game "was shipped from a point 

 at least 300 miles distant from the State of New York." All that is necessary to 

 traffic in game under this section is to violate the laws of other States, for the close 

 sea.son of all the States is practically the same, and once the game is within our 

 borders it can be sold openly for twelve months in the year. Not only is the State in 

 the position of a receiver of stolen goods, but the law operates against our own game. 

 Courtesy and justice to other States, and the difficulty of protecting our own game 

 with this law in force, demands its repeal, and we earnestly recommend that it be 

 striken from the stal^tes. 



Net-fishing within the mile limit should be absolutely prohibited throughout Lake 

 Ontario. Chaumont Bay and adjoining bays at the head of the St. Lawrence River 

 are natural spawning grounds for black bass and other fishes and act as feeders to and 

 nurseries for the St. Lawrence River, and we know of nothing that would do more to 

 improve the fishing of the St. Lawrence than to protect these waters a mile from the 

 main land and islands at that end of the lake. There is no gootl reason why 

 exceptions should be made of any portion of the water within the mile limit. On the 

 other hand, there is every reason why these waters should be protected as well if not 

 better than at any other point on the lake. 



We also recommend that the open season for deer shall not exceed forty-five days, 

 and that hounding and jacking be prohibited. Although the hounding season was 

 shortened one-half last year, there were probably as many deer killed as during the 

 year before, and we believe the only way to preserve the deer is to prohibit hounding 

 entirely, at least for a term of years. 



We further recommend that the woodcock and grouse season shall not open before 

 September 1st in each year, and that it shall close not later than November 30th. 



