In the years gone by, since, in fact, the days of Confed- 

 eration, when a beginning was made in keeping accurate fish 

 statistics, with extending exploitation, a growing home 

 consumption, and expanding foreign markets, the Cana- 

 dian fishing industry experienced a steady rise in produc- 

 tion and accounted each year for a substantially greater 

 revenue than in each preceding twelve months. This 

 consistent trend upwards reached its peak during the 

 war years, due to an uprecedented demand which in 

 turn was followed by exceptional efforts on the part of 

 fishermen and packers. The end of the war found a 

 falling off in certain of the export markets developed and 

 the industry suffering from over-equipment of fleets and 

 plants, acquired under the delusion that the extraordinary 

 wartime prosperity would last indefinitely. 



The Need for a Campaign 



The crying need of Canada's fish industry at the present 

 time is for an aggressive campaign abroad to develop 

 wider and newer export markets together with the en- 

 couragement of greater home consumption of the domestic 

 product, to the exclusion of foreign goods. There is no 

 doubt but that this alone is needed to rectify a situation 

 brought about by a sudden disorganization of the industry 

 resulting from the sudden cessation of war demand together 

 with the general upheaval which has existed in foreign 

 trade relations. The situation is purely temporary; the 

 industry is sound and will resume its progress in adding 

 yearly increments to this valuable resource of Canadian 

 revenue. 



Of equal or greater importance to the development 

 of markets is the need for wise and sound legislation for 

 the conservation of the fish in Canadian waters, their 

 adequate protection during the breeding seasons and the 

 retention of their spawning grounds and the channels of 

 access to them. 



The fish catch of the year 1921 amounted in value 

 to $49,521,217, and indications are that the value for 

 1921, when published, will disclose a substantial falling 

 off. Taking only the sea fish catch on both coasts for the 

 first nine months of the year, there was a decline for the 

 period of from $22,171,371 to $14,517,344. This in spite 

 of the fact that the season was in many respects a splendid 

 one, with exceptional possibilities. But fishermen in some 

 cases did not go out, or returned with less than a full catch, 

 when they found there was no prospect of disposing of all 

 that they caught. The year's catch in 1919 amounted 

 in value to $56,485,579 and in 1918 to $60,250,544, which 

 was the Dominion's record year. The value of the total 

 catch in 1900 was $21,557,639 and millions were added 

 yearly as the industry expanded, up to 1918. 



Export Pinnacle Reached in 1920 



Canadian exports of fish and fish products reached their 

 pinnacle in 1920 when their value attained an aggregate 

 of $40,976,747. In the fiscal year 1921 they dropped to 

 $33,330,364. In 1916 they were only $22,377,977 and in 

 1904 only $10,759,029. In the four months ending July 

 31st, 1921, fish exports amounted to $8,041,012 as against 

 $9,387,315 in 1920 and $9,654,812 in 1919. This repre- 

 sents, in the same proportion, a decline of about $4,040,000 

 in the total export trade for the year. Glancing over the 

 list of Canadian fish exports they would appear to pene- 

 trate to many parts of the world, the United States and 

 the United Kingdom being the heaviest importers, whilst 

 all varieties of fish found in Canadian waters seems to 

 stand high in popular favor. 



There is nothing wrong with the Canadian fishing 

 industry but an urgent need for an aggressive campaign 

 to develop new markets for the increased production war 

 demands have brought about. Many weeks the survey 

 of markets published by the Department of Trade and 

 Commerce publishes the names of firms in foreign countries 

 desirous of securing the Canadian fish product, and which 

 are apparently overlooked. The Fordney Tariff Bill 

 threatens to seriously curtail Canada's most profitable 

 market, and with the same foresight displayed in other 



lines of Canadian exports, markets must be found and 

 developed abroad. Canadian fish has made its name on 

 the world's markets, is in general favor, and it is only 

 necessary to keep it prominently before dealers. 



Timber in the Northwest Territories 



The increasing penetration of agricultural 

 settlement, the extension of the trapping field, 

 and perhaps above all the discovery of oil and 

 valuable minerals in the area, inducing more 

 exhaustive exploration, have made the sub- Arctic 

 north of Canada more generally known and have 

 revealed resources not previously known or 

 widened the limited knowledge as to their extent. 

 One of the resources of this great area of which 

 little is generally known is its timber wealth. 

 This, according to the Canadian Forestry Maga- 

 zine, is sufficient to supply the country for a 

 number of years. Up to well within the Arctic 

 circle, where they dwindle in size, are to be found 

 quantities of spruce, tamarac, jackpine, poplar, 

 larch, birch and willow, all of good size and in 

 commercial quantities. 



In the Mackenzie district, white and black 

 spruce attain a height of eighty to one hundred 

 feet, and in a majority of cases these are straight 

 and furnish at least two logs to a tree of good size. 

 Below Fort Smith during the summer of 1921, 

 in an area of about a square mile, two hundred 

 logs were cut, averaging forty feet long and ten 

 to eighteen inches in diameter. Spruce is found in 

 scattered groups, but the clumps are generally 

 large, annual rings numbering one hundred 

 being quite common. White spruce attains its 

 full size in the valleys especially. The lower 

 half of the Slave River is thickly wooded in this 

 respect. 



Great Areas of Jackpine 



In view of the mooted schemes of utilizing the 

 jackpine for the manufacture of paper pulp, the 

 resources of this tree in the Northwest Terri- 

 tories are interesting as adding substantially to 

 the valuable resources of pulpwood in the prov- 

 inces to the south. The jackpine is very prolific 

 in this area and entire blocks of it are to be found 

 in the Mackenzie district. When the Prairie 

 Provinces are called upon to supply pulpwood 

 for Canadian paper production, this northern 

 section will be in a position to supplement the 

 supply. 



The principal tree encountered is the poplar, 

 which constitutes entire forests in many sections 

 of the Territories and is found elsewhere in con- 

 junction with other trees. The balsam poplar 

 inhabits the entire length of the Mackenzie water- 

 ways, assuming its greatest size on the Athabasca, 

 Slave, Peace and Liard rivers. As this is the 

 tree constituting the Prairie Provinces' main re- 

 serve supply of pulpwood, the northern addition 

 will some day have value. At present it is used 

 extensively in the building of log dwellings, and 

 is admirably adapted for fuel. 



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