along the northern boundary of Tweed Forest District from 

 Highway No. 512 westward to Algonquin Park. 



The open season on maskinonge in Divisions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 

 and 8 was established as the first Saturday in June to 

 December 15th. 



The daily catch limit on lake trout in Division 10 was re- 

 duced from five to three. 



The section of the Saugeen River, County of Bruce, having 

 an extended fall season on rainbow trout, was extended 

 upstream to the dam at Walkerton. 



The Summary of the Ontario Fishing Regulations was fur- 

 ther improved in appearance and content. The written 

 descriptions of Divisions were deleted to leave space for 

 the display of more helpful information. The approximate 

 locations of fish sanctuaries were indicated on the Summary 

 maps. 



LICENCES 



Problems associated with the mercury contamination of 

 fish in specific areas had their eltect on licence sales during 

 the summer of 1970. Reductions in sales had been predicted, 

 and they took the form of a 7.9 per cent decrease in the 

 number of non-resident seasonal licences sold and a 6.8 

 per cent reduction in the sale of resident licences. Of equal 

 interest, and perhaps related in some way, were two in- 

 creases, i.e., a 5.2 per cent increase in the sale of non-resi- 

 dent three-day licences and an 11.5 per cent gain in the 

 number of non-resident organized camp licences. 



The domestic, or sport fishing, licence sales also regis- 

 tered some changes. The non-resident smelt licence sales, 

 which includes the non-resident bow and arrow fishermen, 

 experienced a 48 per cent reduction in 1970-71. The sale of 

 resident smelt licences increased slightly, while the angler's 

 bait-fish seine licence showed a drop in popularity. The sale 

 of domestic dip-net licences continued to increase and 

 registered a 44 per cent gain in 1970-71. 



SALE OF ANGLING LICENCES 



DOMESTIC OR SPORT FISHING LICENCES 



Type of Licence Number of Licences Sold 



1968 1969 1970 



Non-resident Smelt 4,870* 6,112* 3,155* 



Resident Smelt 3,941 4,493 4,623 



Angler's Bait-fish 322 351 294 



Domestic Dip-net 826 1,076 1,553 



'Includes non-resident bow and arrow fishermen. 



LICENCE SURVEYS 



Answers received in an angling licence survey, conducted 

 in 1970, reveal that 24 per cent of all Ontario males over 18 

 years of age purchased an angling licence in 1969. The 

 figure was derived from a sample of the 608,000 residents 

 who bought licences in 1969. Younger males and all female 

 residents were exempt from the angling licence requirement 

 in Ontario and not included in the survey; no statistics are 

 available on the number of anglers in these categories. 



The survey disclosed that 82.5 per cent (501,600) of resi- 

 dent anglers reside in southern Ontario (south of the French 

 and Mattawa Rivers and Lake Nipissing). About 23 per cent 

 (138,180) live in the Metropolitan Toronto-York County 

 region. Another 4V2 per cent (28,330) are in the Hamilton 

 area. 



In southern Ontario, 22 out of every 100 eligible males 

 bought angling licences. In northern Ontario, nearly double 

 this proportion, 41 out of 100, obtained an angling licence. 

 The lowest ratio was displayed in the Windsor-Leamington 

 region where only 13 out of every 100 eligible males pur- 

 chased in angling licence. This contrasted with the Fort 

 Frances-Ramy River District where 71 per cent purchased 

 licences. 



The survey revealed a wide range in the ages of Ontario 

 anglers. The 20-30 age group is almost double the 60-70 

 group. Most anglers are in the 20-40 age group, although 

 there is a significant representation from the older ages. In 

 fact, licences were purchased by fishermen in the 99-year 

 group. This seems to prove that the sport of angling knows 

 no age limit. 



EXTENSION 



Services to private landowners were first recognized as a 

 separate program in 1968 with the appointment of extension 

 biologists. In 1970, one head office and three field biologists 

 (Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Simcoe forest districts) 

 staffed the program. The type of services presently available 



21 



