hardly justifies the building of a railroad) is the 

 problem confronting engineers. 



Tank Barges or Pipe Line 



One method considered to be practicable 

 and economical is the transport of the oil product 

 from Fort Norman to Fort McMurray by steel 

 tank barges. The oil well is situated near the 

 Mackenzie River, up which these reservoirs 

 might be floated for 500 miles to Great Slave 

 Lake. They would emerge from the lake by 

 Slave River, where rapids occur for five or six 

 miles, necessitating the introduction of a pipe 

 line for this distance, and -arrive at Fort 

 McMurray by way of the Athabasca River. 

 An alternate method would be to take the oil 

 north by the Mackenzie River to the sea coast 

 of Mackenzie Bay, a trip of 400 miles, presenting 

 no difficult problems but only feasible in the 

 summer time. To transport the oil to the Pacific 

 coast of British Columbia at the nearest point 

 would necessitate the construction of a railroad 

 580 miles in length. 



Another scheme which has been proposed 

 and considered is the conveyance of the oil by 

 pipe line from the Mackenzie River basin to 

 Behring Sea, whence it might be shipped by 

 tankers to the world's markets, and a Bill to 

 sanction this scheme is at present under con- 

 sideration by the legislature. The proposed line 

 would be laid via the Yukon River systems to 

 salt water. Dr. Alfred Thompson, member of the 

 legislature for Yukon Territory, and one time 

 gold commissioner for the territory, predicted 

 as far back as 1887, when already many believed 

 in the oil possibilities of the river basin, that 

 this method of getting the product to the market 

 would some day be adopted. 



Route Not Regarded Favorably 



From the viewpoint of the conservation of 

 Canada's industrial resources for her own use, or 

 from the wider view of control of such resources 

 for the benefit of the Empire, this proposed 

 routing of the oil is not regarded favorably. It 

 would mean direct shipment of all oil production 

 from the new Canadan field to foreign coun- 

 tries and the loss of all subsequent benefit 

 arising from its commercial utilization. 



With the brains of the best engineers devoted 

 to scheming out the most feasible and economic 

 project, there is no doubt that when the advent 

 of the spring again opens up the country to 

 active operations, a successful scheme will have 

 been evolved for putting the product of the 

 Fort Norman Field on the world's markets. 

 The successful strike would seem to have proved 

 the potentiality of the field; the ensuing problem 

 is the inevitable one of the pioneer. 



The development of the country will 

 undoubtedly be followed by the penetration of 

 the railroad and the adding of a new area to 

 industrial Canada. 



Nova Scotia's Fisheries 



By M. H. Nickerson, Fishery Officer, Depl. Industries and 

 Immigration, Nova Scotia Government, Halifax, N.S. 



Nova Scotia is a large peninsula lying coastwise to 

 the other Maritime Provinces of Canada, and the surround- 

 ing sea is plentifully stocked with all varieties of food-fish 

 common to northern waters. Its seaward side, for it* 

 entire length of 300 miles, slopes gradually to a low shore, 

 facing to the south-east, and washed by the Atlantic 

 ocean; it is easy of approach, well provided with navigation 

 aids; not wanting in commodious harbors and abounding 

 in handy coves, the bases of operation for the musquito 

 fleet (shore boats of all kinds). The climate is somewhat 

 milder than that of other localities in the same latitude 

 on this side, and fishing of one sort or another is carried 

 on the whole year round. 



The geographical position of Nova Scotia gives it 

 superior advantages for successfully prosecuting both the 

 the sea and shore fisheries. It has been aptlv termed the 

 natural fish pier on this side of the North Atlantic. Con- 

 sidering its size and the number of inhabitants, it certainly 

 leads in this important pursuit; and this has been the case 

 since it became a British province. At present the outlook 

 is perhaps more promising than at any other period. 



For descriptive purposes, the fish grounds may be 

 grouped as follows: (1) The shore belt extending along the 

 whole coast covering an average of ten miles in width; 



(2) The inner banks occurring at intervals, as separate 

 shallows, at a mean distance of thirty miles from land; 



(3) The greater banks comparatively few and far apart, 

 anywhere from 100 to 200 miles at sea. 



The first area abounds in the following species, which 

 are here enumerated in the order of their values: Cod, 

 lobsters, haddock, mackerel (in season), halibut, herring, 

 salmon, pollock, smelt, swordfish and tuna, besides certain 

 bait fish, oysters and clams, the last two being cultivated 

 only in a few sections, but capable of more extensive 

 development. The inner banks yield a similar crop with 

 the exception of netfish and Crustacea, while the outlying 

 areas are worked chiefly for cod, haddock and halibut. 



The Craft Employed 



The craft employed in the shore-belt are smooth-work 

 boats of ten tons and less, moved by gas power and capable 

 of considerable speed. They are equally adapted to the 

 several divisions of fishing in that area, and their catches 

 include the kinds peculiar to the same by a sort of rotation 

 agreeing with the season and the frequency of the species. 

 Groundfish and Crustacea are always persistent; school- 

 fish, as elsewhere, being of periodic appearance. The cost 

 of each boat is about $800, and they carry each a crew 

 of two or three men. Schooners, ranging from twenty to 

 fifty tons, fish the inner banks generally. They have both 

 sail and gas power, making an average trip in two days. 

 A crew of twelve (two to a dory) is the common practice. 

 This pursuit is confined to a few sections of the coast, 

 namely, those within easy striking distance from the said 

 scattered grounds. The great banks are fished by large 

 schooners of fine model and best sea-going qualities from 

 80 to 150 tons, manned by a crew of fifteen to twenty-four. 

 All these vessels carry auxiliary power. 



The inshore fisheries are conducted by means of nets, 

 seines and traps (weirs) for mackerel, herring and salmon; 

 handlines and set-trawls for groundfish, harpoons for 

 ewordfish, and sometimes for tuna as well. For the inner 

 and outer banks, the methods most in use are the handling 

 from dories (seldom from the decks) and trawling with 

 ground line of great length set with baited hooks. The otter 

 trawl, on trial in these waters for the last few years, is 

 rapidly going out of use. Purse-seining for mackerel, once 

 in vogue in Nova Scotia but long since abandoned, is now 

 being revived in some of the most enterprising ports. 



A pioneer fleet has already been put afloat (the 

 coming year will witness an increase in that force), and it 

 is confidently expected that results on a gratifying scale 

 will attend this new line of activity from which the United 



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