242 American Fisheries Society 



tern has not been destroyed without efforts having been made 

 to prevent it. Canada throughout has stood for conservation. 

 She has put forth earnest and conscientious efforts to con- 

 serve the supply and to prevent depletion. Her record is clear 

 and unmistakable. She failed because she did not have juris- 

 diction over the entire system. She alone could not provide 

 adequate protection, but she did all that was possible under 

 the circumstances. Commercial fishing for sockeye salmon 

 began in Canadian waters in 1876, under the general fishery 

 regulations of the Dominion. In 1878 Canada passed an 

 Order in Council providing that "Drifting with salmon nets 

 shall be confined to tidal waters" and "that drift-nets for sal- 

 mon shall not obstruct more than one-third of the width of 

 any stream," and further that "fishing for salmon shall be dis- 

 continued from 8 a. m. Saturdays to midnight Sundays." All 

 fishing in her waters has been under license and none but bona 

 fide resident fishermen have been permitted to fish. 



In 1889 the Dominion fishery regulations for British Co- 

 lumbia were amended to provide that "the Minister of Marine 

 and Fisheries shall from time to time determine the number 

 of boats, seines or nets or other fishing apparatus to be used 

 in any waters of British Columbia," and all the provisions of 

 the regulations of 1878 were continued. In 1894 the order 

 was further amended to include the provision that "the meshes 

 of nets for catching salmon other than spring salmon, in tidal 

 waters shall not be less than 5}i inches extension measure and 

 shall be used only between the first day of July and the twenty- 

 fifth day of August and between the twenty-fifth day of Sep- 

 tember and the thirty-first day of October." Canada has main- 

 tained close seasons in her waters ever since. In recent years 

 the weekly close time has been extended and the fishing limits 

 further restricted. 



During the period 1876 to 1890 sockeye fishing was con- 

 fined to Canadian waters alone, and it is a matter of record 

 that the catch did not in any one year produce a pack in excess 

 of 300,000 cases, representing a catch of less than four mil- 



