32 THE REPORT OF THE No. 31 



distributed in the Thames and other waters in the western part of the province. 

 Elsewhere (at p. 75) will be found a paper on the subject of the stocking 

 of inland waters with black bass, prepared by the undersigned to be read at the 

 annual meeting of the North America Fish and Game Protective Association, 

 to be held at Ottawa on the 20th proximo. 



/ 



Legislation. 



The fruits of the legislation prohibiting the sale of speckled trout, bass and 

 maskinonge have been so gratifying that a further prohibition for a period of 

 three years is recommended. / 



The Commercial Fisheries. 



closk seasons, etc. 



Many representations have again been received that the close seasons are 

 inapplicable, and require revision ; and that close seasons should be established 

 for herring and sturgeon. The subject is, as has already been pointed out in 

 former reports, within the entire jurisdiction of the Federal Government, and 

 parties making such representations have been so advised ; but at the same time 

 it is one which seriously affects the fisheries of the Province and the fishing 

 industry, and in that connection the following observations are made. 



Lake Trout. — Perhaps in the case of none of our fish does the spawning 

 season vary so much as in that of Lake Trout. Jn some of the Lakes of 

 Muskoka, they are ripe in August ; in Lake Superior they spawn in 

 September, and during that month agents of the American hatcheries, located 

 on the lake, have been in the habft of visiting the stations along the north 

 shore for the purpose of collecting spawn : in Lake H uron, the North Channel, 

 the GejQJCgjanBay, in the vicinity of the Bustards, and in the Temiscamingue 

 District, theyHBegin to spawn about the middle of October : and it is only in the 

 lower part of the bay that the season may be said to apply. In Lakes Erie and 

 Ontario, spawning continues until late in December. Strong protests have been 

 raised by fishermen of the Georgian Bay against what they call an unfair dis- 

 crimination in favor of the Lake Superior and Lake Huron fishermen, it being 

 alleged that their biggest catches are made while the trout are " running," or 

 are on the spawning grounds. A close season to fulfil its functions should I 

 cover at least a portion of the time when the fish are carrying their eggs, as I 

 well as the spawning period ; but the present close season for lake trout is,! 

 practically, a " cl< se season " in name only. The objection which has been.j 

 heretofore presented to varying seasons is the difficulty of proving possession of I 

 fish taken in closed waters ; but with the adequate provision which the Ontario 

 Government has made for the enforcement of the fishery laws, it is believed such 

 objection would not be based on tenable grounds. 



Herring and Whitefish. — The most potent argument in favor of a close 

 season for herring is, that it is alleged, and no doubt with more or less truth, 

 that large numbers of trout and whitefish are taken by the fishermen while 

 nominally fishing for herring ; and more especially is this said tn be the case 

 in the Georgian Bay and Lake Erie. Herring have been everywhere unusually 

 large this year, many having been taken weighing :3 pounds and upwards, and 

 they are said to have sold in the American retail market as " choice white- 

 fish." The Lake Erie herring in flavor more nearly possesses the distinctive 

 qualities of whitefish than it does of herring from Lake Huron or the Georgian 

 Bay, and it therefore easily sells as true whitefish ; in the round, only an expert 

 can decide which is which. The catch of herring during the season in Lake 



