14 REPORT OF THE No. 32 



The policy of the Department in not issuing any licenses for inland 

 lakes where there are already settlers, or likely to be, is no doubt the correct 

 one, but in some of these lakes far removed from any settlement and where 

 the surroundings make settlement impossible, there might be (after a thor- 

 ough investigation) no harm in allowing a certain amount of fishing, but 

 not to the extent that there would be any danger of fishing them out. 



All of which is respectfully submitted. 



Wm. W. Holden, 

 Insfector Game and Fisheries. 



Toronto, 31 Dec, 1907. 



Sir, — I submit herewith a report of my work of inspection during the 

 past season, memos, of which have been furnished you. I will therefore 

 summarize these memos, as follows : 



Exainination of Inland Lakes. 



It is well known that in Northern Ontario there are a number of lakes 

 and rivers about which we practically know nothing. Their value has not' 

 been ascertained. This lack of interest was due largely to their surroundings 

 being wild and unsettled. It is pleasing to note that the Minister is fully 

 alive to the situation, and has decided to utilize them for the benefit of the 

 Province in accordance with their value. Although late in the season before 

 I got to work, I succeeded in getting information that enables me to say that 

 there are numbers of these waters that teem with the finest quality of com- 

 mercial fish, such as salmon trout, whitefish, pickerel, and pike, and can, with 

 proper fishery regulations, be made to yield a continuous large revenue. It 

 would be necessary, however, to change the system of granting fishing privil- 

 eges from that which now prevails in the older part of the Province, where 

 the licenses are granted on a yearly fee based upon the kinds and quantity 

 of nets used, to a system of charging a royalty on the quantity of fish taken, 

 and especially so, in view of the fact that the fishing operations will, in all 

 likelihood, be carried on by, and in the interest of foreigners, or, which is 

 most likely, altogether in the interest of the latter, as you are fully aware 

 that fully 95 per cent, of the catch now goes to the United States, and the 

 Dep«jrtment receives a mere pittance by way of license fees. 



Now that these waters are getting more and more accessible, owing to the 

 construction of railroads, the time is opportune for adopting a policy to meet 

 these requirements, and should the above plan be adopted, it is pretty safe 

 to say that the problem of granting more assistance to Northern Ontario will 

 be greatly lessened by the outlay in some way of the revenue derived from 

 those waters which are at present lying idle, although containing great 

 wealth. 



Fishery Laws. 



The cry has been raised so often that the only thing necessary for the 

 protection of the fish, is the establishment of uniform laws between Canada 

 and the various States bordering thereon, that most people believe that there 

 is something in it, but when we look at the facts, the hollowness of the cry is 

 easily observable. 



