1899 j GAME AND FISHERIES. 35 



the duty expected of him, and that he is in no way compromised in discharging this duty. 

 Each overseer is furnished with a metal badge, which he is required to wear and exhibit 

 when requested. 



Purchase of a Protection Vessel. 



During the major portion of the year our patrol service, especially on the inner 

 channels of the Georgian Bay, was much crippled for the want of a cruiser. Any person 

 familiar with these waters will know how absolutely impossible it would be to prevent, 

 with men in open boats, the wide-spread poaching which is carried on there. 

 An appropriation for the purchase of a steamer was therefore voted by the 

 Legislature at its last session, and efforts were at once made to procure a boat. 

 Offers of boats were received from many parts of the Province, and from Detroit and 

 Buffalo, at prices ranging from $100 to $10,000, and some twelve or fifteen boats were 

 examined by capable agents of the Government with a view to a purchase. Much diffi- 

 culty, however, was experienced ir> finding just the boat required, the majority being either 

 too large or too small, and others not having the necessary equipments ; and it was not 

 until the month of October that one obtainable at a price at all near the appropriation 

 was found which, after due trial and examination, was considered to be adapted for the 

 service. This was the steamer " Gilphie," owned by Mr. A. F. Bowman of Southampton. 

 The price paid was $3,250. The boat bad originally cost $7,500. She is, practically, 

 a new boat, having been rebuilt in 1896. The "Gilphie" is about 80 ft. in length, 15 

 ft, 6 beam, has a hull of white oak, steel boiler, high and low pressure engine, cabins fore 

 and aft, a speed of ten or twelve miles an hour, and is most economical in fuel. She has 

 also proved herself to be staunch and seaworthy, having experienced some extremely 

 rough weather on her initial trip. She did excellent service on the Georgian Bay during 

 the remainder of the season in inspecting fishing territory and preventing illegal fishing, 

 A large number of trap nets were destroyed by her crew. 



Implements of Capture. 



The principal implements of capture authorized in Ontario are the pound set, the 

 gill net, the hocp or fjke net, and the seine. The pound net preserves the fish alive, 

 and is set at right angles to the shore, from which runs out a leader until water 

 sufficiently deep in which to set the pound is found, vaiying from 25 to 40 feet, according 

 to the length of the stakes used. The fish, in passing up and down the shore, encounter- 

 ing the leader, are turned in their course and work along the leader until they pass into 

 the heart and thence into the pound, from which the net derives its name. Not more 

 than three nets in a string are permitted to be set, and an open or disconnected space 

 must be left between each net. They are placed at various distances apart, care being 

 exercised to prevent crowding or oveifishing. On the American side, where the water is 

 very much shallower, as many as 25 or 30 nets are set in a string, and as closely together 

 as the fishermen may desire. The fisherman with small capital has, therefore, no chance, 

 pocketed between long strings of these nets, and is forced out of the business, while on 

 this side all are put upon an equal footing. ^_^ — \ 



The hoop or fyke net, though differently constructed, operates similarly to the pound] 

 net, the fish being found alive in the bag or purse. It is set in marshy inshore waters,/ 

 and is licensed to take coarse fish only. — ^ 



The gill net bangs like a wall in the water, suspended by buoys and floats, and is 

 kept taut by sinkers. It may be set in shallow or deep water. The fish are gilled in 

 attempting to pass through the met he s, and soon die. The occupation of gill net fishing 

 on the great lakes is attended with many dangers and hardships. The fishermen must 

 be on the water in all kinds of weather, the best lifts being, it is said, sometimes made 

 wien the lakes are the roughest. 



The seine or sweep net is probably the oldest device for taking fish, and is a most 

 effective on« ; To it, however, is attributed the depletion of many waters once teeming 

 with fish, ai d its use, therefore, has been for seme years discouraged. It varies in length 

 according to the distance to be swept, one end being attached to the shore. All fish, 

 irrespective of size, within the circle described in its operation are taken. 



