THIRTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 



Department of Game and Fisheries of Ontario 



TO: THE HONOURABLE G. D. CONANT, K.C., 

 Prime Minister and Attorney-General, 

 Minister in Charge, 

 Department of Game and Fisheries. 



SIR: — 



I have the honour to submit to you herewith tlie Thirty-fifth Annual Report of 

 the Department of Game and Fisheries, outlining a summary of the activities of the 

 various Departmental services, and including condensed statistics for the fiscal year 

 ended March 31st, 1942, as well as certain comparative tables. 



INTRODUCTORY 



The problems involved in providing a successful programme of conservation ia 

 connection with the wealth of the wild life natural resources with which this Province 

 has been endowed are many and varied and have been repeatedly emphasized on many 

 opportune occsisions. A permanent solution of the existing problems is to a very large 

 extent dependent upon the complete co-operation of every one who is interested in the 

 maintenance and preservation of this valuable heritage. In the early days fish and 

 game were quite abundant in the lakes and streams and in the forests throughout our 

 virgin territory, and the provision of nature for maintaining the supply was sufficiently 

 adequate. However, the process of developing a country does of necessity entail the 

 removal of forests and the clearing of land in connection with the establishment and 

 growth of a very essential agricultural industry, and the damming of rivers for the 

 provision of electrical power necessary for industrial requirements, as well as many 

 other infringements upon the habitat and environment of wild life, and a considerable 

 reduction of this valuable heritage has been the subsequent result. The demand on 

 these resources has continued to grow as their value from an economic and recreational 

 standpoint became more widely known and appreciated. Over a period of years 

 resident hunters and anglers have increased innumerably, and the tourist trade, stim- 

 ulated and encouraged by the activities of the Department, has in recent years become 

 one of our largest industries. 



The policy of protection has recognized the different phases affecting supply and 

 demand and has been developed in an effort to maintain a proper balance. Legislative 

 enactments and regulations have designated specific periods of the year only during 

 which it is lawful to take various species of our more desirable fish and game and re- 

 stricted the number or quantity of such fish and game which may be taken. Suitable 

 areas have been designated as sanctuaries for game and fish, thus ensuring repro- 

 duction and perpetuation therein and in the territory immediately adjacent to such 

 sanctuaries. Small game has been intensively propagated and released for re-stocking 

 purposes, and hundreds of millions of fish are raised artificially in more than a score 

 of fish hatcheries and this production is annually deposited in provincial waters. The 

 game and fish regulations otherwise embody the results of biological and practical 

 experience, and the enforcement of these regulations is provided by a. staff of game and 

 fisheries overseers. 



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