housewife wants her fish clean, fresh and ready to cook, and, above all, boneless. 

 She won't even look at a fish in the round — an attitude that some blame, perhaps 

 justly, on generations of angling uncles. At the same time the Great Lakes have 

 been completely altered in character, in the upper lakes by the sea lamprey, and 

 in the lower ones by chemical changes caused basically by industrial and domestic 

 wastes. In changed lakes we have new fish dominating the market. There are 

 vast quantities of smelt, perch, chub and alewife, for which there either exists 

 no market, or else a huge market for processed fish at a low price. This means 

 that the costs of production have to be low. In far northern lakes there is also 

 a problem of processing and quality control, and a high cost of shipping. Our 

 fish are still excellent, but they don't sell themselves unaided as they used to. 



The establishment of a licence for smelt trawls in Lake Erie after some seven 

 years of experimental trawling has established this new form of fishing firmly 

 in Ontario. Markets for smelt have gradually been developed by the industry, 

 and the commercial fishermen are deriving as much benefit from smelt as presently 

 possible. 



At the same time, experimental fishing for perch, white bass and sheepshead 

 is carefully being developed, using trawls. Small-mesh gill nets have been allowed 

 in formerly prohibited areas of the Great Lakes to assess their potential in devel- 

 oping a chub fishery. 



In Lake Ontario, white perch have become abundant, and experimental 

 fishing by commercial fishermen with small-mesh gill nets has allowed the initial 

 development of a fishery for white perch. Small markets are being established by 

 the industry to make use of this new species in Ontario. 



Perhaps the present and future key to successful commercial fishing in 

 Ontario is the ability of the fishermen to change from traditional gear and fish 

 species, to the species available, and the most economical means of catching them. 

 In addition, the production of fish of the highest quality is becoming most neces- 

 sary for fish competing with other foods in the retail food market. 



It we look at the other food products in the Supermarket, we find that 

 with them there is a history of new processes, new gear, large scale operations, 

 and fewer men. The same trend in the fishery is hardly a cause for surprise. 



For the farmer, however, promotion and marketing has been modernized 

 as well as production and processing. The fisherman sees himself unable to change 

 his operation without some help at the sales end. During the year there has been 

 a series of conferences and meetings in which the federal government, the prov- 

 inces and the industry have attempted to deal with these problems. Most signifi- 

 cantly, economists have given their attention to them. In a protein-deficient world 

 fish is fine food, and, with us, good sources that should be on the market at a 

 reasonable price are untapped, or else the fishermen are not making a stable 

 livelihood. We must acknowledge an opportunity to bring an old industry up-to- 

 date, and to put good food at the disposal of the housewife. 



During the year two senior members of our staff, who have obviously become 

 known as sound and capable administrators, have gone into senior executive posi- 

 tions in other areas of the Provincial services. Dr. J. K. Reynolds went to the 

 Prime Minister's office, and Mr. D. N. Omand to the Civil Service Department. 

 Mr. J. D. Roseborough is now Fisheries Supervisor and Mr. F. A. Walden is 

 Wildlife and Enforcement Supervisor. Universities and other services have also 

 been able to attract some of our experienced biologists. We would be more 

 philosophical about accepting such changes as adjustments from which we ulti- 

 mately benefit if we were always assured of recruiting trained men at the starting 

 level, but there is a shortage of such men in Canada. 



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