Fish Culturists' Association. 



the St. Lawrence, and that they come up the Richelieu into Lake 

 Cham plain, not in great abundance, however. 



Mr. Wilmot : This matter brings up another that is closely 

 connected with it. The object of Mr. Mather is that we should 

 by some means protest against the introduction of an animal 

 that would be injurious to the fishing interests of the country. 

 That can be carried out in another way, so far as fish are con- 

 cerned. I am inclined to think that many of us are inclined to 

 satisfy our fancy in introducing fish which are injurious. On 

 the Detroit River, which is frequented almost wholly by white- 

 fish,, and where fishing has been carried on from time imme- 

 morial almost on an extended scale, it has of late years been 

 very much diminished. The Government of Canada, now aided 

 by that of the State of Michigan, have erected upon the east 

 shore of the river a large whitefish breeding-establishment. 

 The breeding of whitefish, of course, ceases about the ist 

 of April ; that is, they generally hatch out about that time, and 

 they are turned out, and the building, of course, would then go 

 into disuse until the season again approaches in October or 

 November for laying down the eggs. The fishermen — fishermen 

 are generally greedy and very selfish — said, " Now, since you 

 put this establishment up here, we want you to go to work 

 and breed another kind of fish and put them into the Detroit 

 River." Thev made an application to our Government that I 

 should send my assistant and my employees to Lake Huron, 

 and there collect large quantites of the eggs of what we term 

 the pickerel, one of the most voracious and destructive fish that 

 we have in our waters. The Government referred the matter to 

 me, and asked my opinion. I reported adversely to it, and said : 

 "I think you will be doing a great injustice to the fishermen 

 themselves if you introduce into the same waters the bitterest 

 and the most rapacious enemy of the whitefish. It would be, in 



