1899 ] GAME AND FISHERIES. , 43 



hence no class of people should be more interested in the protection of our waters than 

 the working classes. 



The poacher and the netter have neither conscience, pity nor consideration for the 

 poor man. They care not if the waters be stripped of food which supplies the many, if 

 in so doing they benefit themselves. To let them alone with their merciless nets means 

 to rob the people of their inheritence. 



Object op Protection. 



Fish hatcheries, fish protectors and fish commissioners are not made and paid for the 

 sake of selfish netters or of sporting anglers (however much an acquisition they may be 

 financially to the residents of the shores of the neighborhood of their operations), but to 

 keep up and replenish and protect the food supply for the millions. 



Protection to Licensee. 



xnere is, nowever, anotner phase to be considered. It is that of the honest fisher- 

 man, who, amid storms and perils, desires an honest livelihood and seeks the protection of 

 the Government in his daily toil. 



Revenue. 



There is still another important question to be considered, that is. the revenue from 

 our fisheries. 



Tn the reports from local overseers over that part of the territory not including the 

 Rideau waters, there appear to have been issued so far for this year but 17 licenses for 

 hoop nets, while during the last six months 260 yds. of gill nets and one hoop net have 

 been seized 



Upon the Rideau waters there have been 16 licenses issued, with 500 yds. of gill nets 

 seized. 



Thus it will be seen that in this vast volume of water, embracing a territory of pro- 

 bably 100 by 120 miles and numbering upwards of 100 lakes, the revenue derived there- 

 from is not one-third of what it ought to be. 



Vigorous Policy Required. 



We must have a government and we must have a revenue, so as to protect our great 

 lakes and streams will necessarily entail a large expenditure. To make the supply of fish 

 abundant and cheap and fishing a means of livelihood for hundreds of honest men, in 

 other words, to spread a shield over the rights of all, is one of the chuf functions of civil 

 government, and now that the certainty of rights as between our federal and local govern- 

 ments has become known, a vigorous policy in the protection of our fisheries in our inland 

 lakes is earnestly looked for. 



The Rideau Waters. 



These waters, now under the supervision of three local overseers, and lying between 

 Kingston and Ottawa, contain a series of over thirty lakes, each ranging from three to 

 twenty miles in length and from two to five miles in width, and having a direct distance 

 on steamboat navigation of 126 miles and of several hundred miles of coast line. They 

 are far-famed for their beautiful lakes and islands, in which respect they are the rival of 

 the St. Lawrence, and are a popular resort for tourists. They may be made a source of 

 wealth to the country through which they pass, as well as revenue to the Province. 



Illegal Fishing. 



Probably there is no chain of lakes in the Province which has suffered from all 

 *orms and devices of illegal fishing and whose waters have been so ruthlessly depleted of 

 £sh as the Rideau. Five hundred yards of nets have been seized, 27 convictions for 



