174 American Fisheries Society 



every important oyster bed, is in a public harbor, the Domin- 

 ion possesses vast property rights in the fisheries, and the day 

 may come when wise counsels will prevail, and the present 

 state of uncertainty be removed by the entire fisheries juris- 

 diction and property rights being finally vested in one author- 

 ity, viz., the Federal Government. This will do away with all 

 conflict and uncertainty, and be a benefit to the fisheries in 

 every way. The single aim of protection, conservation, and 

 wise regulation (in the interest not of Provinces, or sections 

 of the country, but of the whole Dominion) could then be 

 carried out. The Provinces held the opinion that they could 

 get considerable revenue out of their fisheries, but this is an 

 error, though in British Columbia the license fees did amount 

 to a large sum annually, and as the valuable salmon fisheries 

 were mainly carried on within the limits of rivers rather 

 than in the open sea, the situation was somewhat complicated. 

 A modus Vivendi was for a time adopted, until a further legal 

 decision was obtained. 



Full Dominion Control Desirable in Fisheries. — 

 Whatever uncertainty may exist as to Provincial and Domin- 

 ion rights, the most desirable consummation is the Federal 

 assumption of all such rights. All friction, and injurious con- 

 flict and misunderstanding would disappear, and the sole ef- 

 fort of the Dominion would be to exert every effort to make 

 the fisheries everywhere productive and prosperous. No fair- 

 minded critic, looking dispassionately at the history of 

 fisheries administration in Canada, will deny that the Federal 

 Government did great things for the fisheries for a long period 

 of years. What would have been the fate of the resources 

 of our waters in Canada had no protective efforts been made, 

 is unquestionable. Their extent and value today are due to 

 the federal measures, but they are capable of vast extension, 

 and even decaying fisheries like the oyster industry can be 

 restored if a proper Dominion conservation policy be adopted. 



The Services of Prominent Officials Referred to. 

 — ^Who are the men to whom the preservation of Canada's 



