469 



Reference has been made through the body of this Report to wasteful and 

 destructive methods of securing fish either at ordinary times or at the spawning sea- 

 son. It is \ery encouraging to learn that in certain inland lakes, such as Scugog, 

 Rice Lake and Lake Simcoe, where illegal fishing has been strictly put down, the 

 improvement in Bass and Maskinonge, tor which these waters were formerly dis- 

 tinguished, is very great. Large quantities of Bass are peddled by Indians in the 

 country surrounding Rice Lake in exchange for flour and pork. 



Explosives have been frequently employed in American waters — and their 

 use is not unknown in Ontario — for killing fish in a wholesale fashion. It is said 

 that the air-bladder is ruptured in fish killed in this way : obviously only a very 

 small proportion of the fish killed or fatally injured are brought to market. 



Again the use of pound-nets with a small li- or 2 inch mesh in the pot secures 

 countless immature fish of little or no market value, and the same may be said of 

 the use of seines for herring, many immature Whitefish being captured, the sur- 

 plus catch being used as manure when the market is glutted. 



Sturgeon were formerly looked upon in Lake Erie as of so little value and 

 were considered to such an extent as intruders in the pounds, that the fishermen 

 were in the habit of bleeding them and allowing them to escape, the object being 

 to keep the species off the fishing grounds. Spearing and grappling for them at 

 spawning time and indeed spearing of any fish under such circumstances is pro- 

 perly regarded as one of the most destructive methods of fishing. 



The respecting of a close season has done much to counteract depletion due 

 to taking advantage of the comparatively helpless condition of fish at the spawn- 

 ing seasons. 



The extent to which the various species expose them.selves to capture is dif- 

 ferent, but the accounts we read of Ontario streams formerly blocked by Salmon 

 at this time, and carted away in immense quantities convince us that the changes 

 in the conditions of the streams are not entirely to blame for their total disap- 

 pearance. 



With regard to the destruction of spawning and feeding grounds by sawdust 

 etc., and by decayed fish or ofifal, it is obvious that this source of injury to our 

 fisheries is largely preventable. The enactments of the Dominion have already 

 done much in putting an end to the former condition of affairs by which a fine 

 river like the Ottonabee River, formerly celebrated for its Bass and Maskinonge, 

 had its depth reduced from twelve feet to a few inches by accumulated sawdust, 

 which is further distributed by spring freshets. It is not onl}'- in rivers that 

 damage is done. Deposits of blackened and decomposing sawdust have been 

 found miles out on the floor of the Great Lakes opposite rivers on which there are 

 many saw mills, to the great detriment of favourite spawning and feeding beds 

 of Whitefish. 



This water-logged sawdust is also objectionable as forming a nucleus for sand- 

 bars, interfering with navigation, but from the fisheries point of view the danger 

 already noted, and the injuries to aciult fish by the development of the gases of 

 decomposition and by the floating sawdust getting into the gills of the fish cannot 

 be exaggerated. 



The consumption of mill-refuse is such an easily accomplished remedy that 

 there is no excuse for the failure to carry it out. The Dominion law appears to 

 be sufficiently explicit on the subject, but, as may be inferred from complaints from 

 various parts of the country, requires to be better enforced. 



