A'o. 3 Report of the Department of Lands and Forests for 1950 



(e) Possession of gill nets without proper authority 



(f) Operating gill nets without a licence. 



General 



The Game and Fisheries Act provides that articles "used in violation of this 

 Act and found in the possession of any person suspected of having committed an 

 offence against this Act shall be seized, and upon conviction, be forfeited to and 

 become the property of the Crown in right of Ontario and sold by the Department''. 



In many cases in which articles are seized following offences, particularly 

 where such offences are of a minor character, the persons concerned, following dis- 

 position of the charges which were laid, have been provided with an opportunity to 

 redeem the articles seized from them on payment of a specified fee assessed by the 

 Department for the return of such articles. This arrangement applies principally 

 to firearms and fishing tackle. 



However, there is a percentage of offences in which the circumstances are 

 sufficiently serious to warrant the definite confiscation to the Crown of the seized 

 articles. These confiscated articles are disposed of by the Department at annual 

 public sales. 



Four such sales were conducted by the Department during the period under 

 review, a fishing tackle sale in May. fur sales in May and July, and a sale of firearms 

 in October. 



Table No. 20 

 .\mounts realized from sales of these articles were as follows: 



May fishing tackle sale $ 927.01 



May fur sale — confiscated furs 5,639.90 



July fur sale — -- - - — 5,643.50 



October sale of firearms — 3,304.43 



Total $15,514.84 



During the period under review Conservation Officers numbering close to 

 200, in the course of their operations, and in addition to a multiplicity of other duties, 

 performed the following services: 



1. Seized equipment in 2,915 cases, 208 of which covered persons unknown, and 

 involved traps and fishing gear unlawfully set. 



2. Prosecuted some 2,585 cases and obtained convictions in 2.286. 



3. Obtained fines totalling $47,98.S. 



4. Realized $15,514.84 from the sale of confiscated articles. 



5. Travelled well over 2.000,000 miles using every available means of transportation, 

 to ensure law observance. 



6. Aided in the distribution of millions of fish and the re-stocking of thousands of 

 pheasants. 



7. Spent a great deal of time — after hours, working with organized groups in the 

 interests of conservation. 



GAMK FISH AXD HATCHERIES 



During the year, twenty-seven hatcheries and rearing stations were in opera- 

 tion. Dorion. one of our largest trout rearing stations, which was closed for two 



37 



