Prince. — Fishery Administration in Canada 165 



existed which relied much upon advice from outside bodies 

 such as the Provincial Association for the Protection of Inland 

 Fisheries and Game in Nova Scotia (founded in Halifax in 

 1853), and largely owing its efficiency to officers in the Im- 

 perial Forces (army and navy) stationed in Canada, among 

 whom Captain William Chearnley was most prominent and 

 for some years acted as supervisor of fisheries. He had a 

 number of wardens under him, who received 25 pounds per 

 annum under authority of chapter 17 of the Nova Scotia act 

 of 1853. The scheme to frame a complete set of regulations, 

 based on Captain Chearnley's report after an inspection tour 

 in 1853, fell through. The Nova Scotia fisheries act, passed 

 in 1853, providing close seasons, rigorous penalties for viola- 

 tions, appointment of wardens in every county, etc., had proved 

 a failure, and the fisheries committee in 1855 decided to vote 

 no more grants from the public treasury for fishery protection. 

 New Brunswick, as early as 1845, authorized stringent salmon 

 laws in Restigouche County by an act of assembly (8 Victoria, 

 cap. 65), but Dr. M. H. Perley, in a report on the New Bruns- 

 wick Fisheries (1852), remarked that "these very stringent 

 and salutary provisions * * * ^j-e not enforced. In prac- 

 tice the act seems almost a dead letter," he said "and a close 

 time, prohibition of taking and sale of grilse and immature 

 salmon, prevention of the use of the fish spear, and the en- 

 forcement of uniform laws in the Province generally are 

 necessary." It is interesting to note that, while salmon and 

 trout claimed first attention, the protection of oysters was also 

 included in early fishery legislation in Prince Edward Island 

 and New Brunswick. 



It was realized in New Brunswick that, unless backed up 

 by public opinion, the enforcement of fish and game laws is 

 almost impossible, and in 1851 a series of local fishery socie- 

 ties was started with the aid of a vote of five hundred pounds 

 ($2,500) from the Legislature in Fredericton. Three of these 

 proved most successful in Charlotte County, opposite the coast 

 of Maine, and an annual fishery fair held on Campobello 



