Prince. — Fishery Administration in Canada 185 



some years of useful work. The Board, of which for twenty- 

 one years I have acted in the capacity of chairman, consists of 

 representatives from the principal universities of the Domin- 

 ion, with some departmental nominees of the Minister, and 

 it has fortunately such independence and freedom that tech- 

 nical researches can be conducted, unhampered by the red-tape 

 of officialdom which is fatal to all enthusiastic and fruitful 

 scientific work. 



Arctic and Biological Expeditions. — Other scientific 

 investigations have from time to time been authorized, from 

 the date of the celebrated researches in the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence by the late Dr. J. F. Whiteaves, within four or five 

 years after confederation. During the years 1914-15 a re- 

 markable series of fishery investigations was carried out under 

 the direction of Dr. Johan Hjort, formerly Director of Fish- 

 eries for Norway. With the aid of two fishery cruisers, 

 Princess and Acadia, and some subsidiary vessels, and with 

 the help of a fine staff of scientists, Dr. Hjort was able to 

 present a volume of reports at the close of his two years' work 

 on the fish-life, plankton, hydrographic, physical, and dynam- 

 ical features of the Gulf of St. Lawrence waters, of the high- 

 est scientific value. There have been various expeditions to 

 Hudson Bay, the first under Capt. A. R. Gordon, R. N., in 

 1884, and later expeditions such as Commander Low's in 

 the Neptune in 1884 and 1886, and Dr. Wakeham's expedi- 

 tion and Captain Bernier's in 1906 and 1908-09; all have 

 had most interesting results to report. A Canadian Arctic 

 expedition 1913-18, planned by Mr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 

 an Icelandic Canadian born in Manitoba, has been very suc- 

 cessful and between sixty and seventy reports on the biology, 

 hydrography, geology, ethnology, etc., of the regions north 

 of the Mackenzie River and Coronation Gulf are in course 

 of publication at the present time. 



Conclusion. — Looking over this elaborate program of 

 activities, and I have omitted all reference to a most important 

 branch, viz., statistics of the fisheries, because this work, car- 



