FISHING INDUSTRY OP THE GBEAT LAKES 611 



were a nuisance in the seines and pounds, and how, after fish became 

 rarer, nets were even set with the special object of taking the immature 

 individuals, often of a size too small to be marketable. Such fish 

 must have been diminutive indeed. The failure of the responsible 

 Governments to check such wanton destruction can not be too 

 severely censured, but in view of the fact that other natural resources 

 have been and still are being squandered in the same way it is not 

 surprising that wealth apparently so unlimited as that of the Great 

 Lakes should not have been conserved. 



More interest has been shown in conservation on the Canadian 

 side of the boundary than on the American side, and the Canadian 

 laws regulating fishing not only antedate most of those on the Ameri- 

 can side by many years but have been throughout much more con- 

 servative. 



REMEDIAL MEASURES 



LEGISLATION 



At present there are laws everywhere regulating the taking of fish, 

 which are more or less effectively enforced. It has already been 

 shown how these laws often vary in character on the same lake, due 

 to diversity of opinion among the legislators responsible for their 

 framing, and it has also been shown how the enactment of protective 

 legislation lags behind the need for protection. The necessity for 

 protecting the fish can be understood by anyone, but few persons 

 other than fishermen can appreciate the significance of the variations 

 in the stipulations of the laws, particularly of those governing the 

 size of the mesh of the netting. 



By way of illustrating the importance of apparently insignificant 

 differences in the provisions of these regulations, data relative to the 

 difference in effectiveness of nets which differ in size of mesh to the 

 amount of ^ inch are given. The netting used for the experiments 

 was Unen giU netting of 23/^ and 2^ inch mesh set in Lake Ontario 

 in 1921 at depths of more than 60 fathoms. The two kinds of nets 

 were equal as regards quality and fineness of thread, manner of hang- 

 ing, and length of pieces, and the fish caught were of two species only, 

 both practically equal in the matter of absolute size attained. On 

 July 4, off Braddock Point Light, three pieces of 2%-inch net took 

 22, 20, and 19 fish, and one piece of 23^-inch net took 59 fish. On 

 July 16, off Wilson, three pieces of 2^-inch net took 49, 48, and 51 

 fish, while one piece oi 2}4 took 106 fish. Thus, a difference of }4 

 inch in these two cases more than doubled the catch. From these 

 results it may be conjectured what bearing the inequality of the 

 provisions of the various laws regulating the size of netting has on 

 the conservation of the fisheries. Variations in the type of appa- 

 ratus allowed is a subject too complicated to discuss in all its phases 

 within the limited scope of this paper, however, and I will therefore 

 pass on to a consideration of the quantity of apparatus used, a 

 subject which has been recommended to conservationists for atten- 

 tion before but which so far has received but little. 



There are no laws limiting the number of nets that may be set or 

 the quantity of fish that may be taken in the Great Lakes. The 

 Canadian authorities have placed definite limits on the amount of 

 fish that may be caught annually in the important inland lakes but 



