FISH AND WILDLIFE BRANCH 



THE purpose of the Fish and Wildlife Branch is to establish and maintain a 

 maximum fish and wildlife population in the Province consistent with all other 

 proper uses of its lands and waters. Management activities are directed towards 

 permitting the people of Ontario to realize the greatest recreational or economic 

 benefits from these renewable resources. This is a long term project, but all pro- 

 posals for management programmes, legislation, or other activities are considered 

 in the light of the following principles: (a) sustained yield; (b) full use; (c) multiple 

 land use; and (d) public use. 



Sustained yield means the maintenance of stock which will continue to pro- 

 duce a sustained annual harvest and hunting and fishing are regulated only to the 

 extent that such activities actually limit the size of the parent stock. 



Legislation, management programmes and public relations programmes are 

 directed towards encouraging the harvest of the entire annual increment of fish and 

 game species. The provision of public access to unused surplus stocks of wildlife is 

 essential. 



The production of fish and game is one form of land use and is compatible 

 with forestry and agricultural pursuits, among others. All the aspects of land and 

 water use in any area are considered in the planning and assessment of public 

 benefits which may be derived from the land. 



Finally, fish and wildlife resources have high economic values and are the 

 basis for universally popular forms of recreation. Accordingly, plans, programmes 

 and legislation are generally directed towards promoting and encouraging public 

 use rather than restricting it. It is axiomatic that the more public use is made of 

 these resources, the better is the management. 



Commercial fishing is an old industry in Ontario. At one time it was 

 the only sort of fishing to which anyone gave any serious thought, so far as 

 administration is concerned. However, there always were anglers, and when rail- 

 ways came, we began to get tourist anglers. The first place that got real publicity 

 was the Nipigon River, newly crossed by the C.P.R. The Ontario Fisheries Act 

 of 1885 was put into effect in 1887, and one of the three officers appointed to 

 collect the new $1.00 nonresident angling fee was stationed at Nipigon. His 

 first collection included $27.00 from anglers from "old" Ontario, reflecting a 

 viewpoint still to be found in the north. In one statement a few years later, 

 however, a "tourist" was defined as anyone more than five miles from home. 



Though we have come a long way and travel farther nowadays, our com- 

 mercial fishery is still a valid and valuable industry. It is hard to assess the value 

 of our sport fishery, but it is at least fifty times that of the commercial fishery, 

 and if there were ever any question about the availability of fish, there is no 

 doubt about the angler having first claim. Angling interests sometimes oppose 

 commercial fishing, but we generally find that biological investigation shows no 

 real incompatibility and often shows actual benefit. 



Commercial fishermen have been more than a little buffeted by the "winds 

 of change". Time was when a box of fish could be taken from the net, iced, and 

 shipped to market where it could be sold in the round, but not today. In the 

 "meat" end of the supermarket everything is packaged ready for cooking. The 



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