308 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Columbia River boat has been introduced and is now used to a consid- 

 erable extent in the lower part of the river and outside. Its breadth 

 and centerboard make it much safer for the more exposed places. 



All gill nets in British Columbian waters are, in accordance with 

 law, used adrift. This method appears to be best suited to most of the 

 requirements of the region and has given entire satisfaction. The cur- 

 rent in the Fraser River is generally too strong for set nets, and with 

 the large number of nets there employed only the one method of fish- 

 ing them would be advisable. All nets are drifted at the surface, each 

 being handled by a single boat, to which it is attached at one end, the 

 other end being indicated by its buoy. 



Up to 1891, inclusive, the number of drift nets in use was limited to 

 500. Since then, however, licenses have been issued to all bona-tide 

 fishermen, British citizens and residents, who make application. The 

 canneries and other establishments dealing in salmon are allowed sev- 

 eral nets apiece, but each independent fisherman is entitled to only a 

 single net. The number of licenses issued and the total length of the 

 nets employed each year since 1891 have been as follows: 



To insure their identification the boats of the independent fishermen 

 must be marked with their license number, but canneries and dealers 

 have each their separate series of numbers, as each receives only a 

 single license for all its boats. 



A varied nationality is represented among the drift-net fishermen, 

 including Indians and negroes, there being a very large number of the 

 former. The arrangements with them differ. Some own their boats 

 and nets and dispose of their catch by contract; others are supplied 

 with their outfit by the canneries and fish on shares, while others 

 again, the Indians especially, are employed on day wages. The inde- 

 pendent fisherman in possession of an outfit is supposed to fish it 

 himself, and his hours are measured by his endurance. The canneries, 

 however, generally hire two gangs for each Of their boats, in order that 

 they may be kept at work both day and night. The licenses do not 

 define the position which each fisherman may occupy with his drift net. 

 The law provides, however, that the nets shall be kept at least 250 

 yards apart and shall not be used so as to obstruct more than one-third 

 the width of the river, but it has been manifestly impossible to comply 

 with these regulations — the first, especially — since the number of nets 

 has increased so greatly ; and the second, because in many places the 

 width of the river is less than three times the length of the nets. 



The fishermen are left to arrange these matters among themselves, 

 and whether they do so by tacit understanding or not, there is little or 



