1902 DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES. 33 



Erie shows an alarming decrease when compared with that of 1901, being 

 2,338,000 pounds less. Its extermination would therefore appear to be certainly 

 approaching, and to be a matter of time only unless radical measures are adopted 

 for its preservation, such as the establishment of a close season, and perhaps 

 a limitation of the implements used for its capture. The following is an extract 

 from the anoual report of Overseer Laird of Kent on the subject : 



" The past season has brought ruin to more than one fisherman, and others 

 have not made enough to pay expenses, all owing, I have no doubt, to the very 

 great falling off of the herring fishing, which has been getting lighter every 

 year for several years. I have no hesitation in saying that the decrease is owing 

 to the wholesale destruction of the herring during the spawning season with 

 gill nets. ... If some means is not adopted at once for the better protec- 

 tion of herring and whitefish when these fish are on the spawning grounds, the 

 fishing industry, as far as they are concerned, will, in the very near future, be a 

 thing of the past." 



In the Georgian Bay there does not appear to be the same cause for alarm, 

 and but as a safeguard for the trout and whitefish the same precautions would 

 evidently be unnecessary as to herring. Captain McAulay of the " Gilphie " 

 reported them to be " as thick as water," that more w T ere taken each morning 

 than could be dressed and salted during the day, and that all available packages 

 were soon filled ; district Overseer Pratt, that " they began to appear on the 

 inshore shoals about Oct. 11th, and were in countless millions, and that the total 

 catch is but an infinitesimal fraction of their numbers." A decrease in whitefish 

 is everywhere reported, except in the North Channel of Lake Huron, and unless 

 a larger output from our hatcheries is made there can be but one result, one 

 that will ever be deplored — its complete annihilation. Its only salvation is the 

 hatcheries. To rely upon its natural increase for re-establishment would, it has 

 been said, be like a farmer relying upon the seeds which fall from the ripened 

 grain for next year's crop ; and perhaps this may be said of trout also. Indeed, 

 it is a debatable question whether, under all the circumstances, it would not be 

 better, rather than continue the close season for trout and whitefish, to abolish 

 it altogether and rely for their maintenance on the two pound limit and an 

 increased output from the hatcheries. 



Sturgeon: — As has been already stated, the reports indicate a gradual de- 

 crease in almost every quarter. A few years ago they were so plentiful and in 

 such small demand that Ontario fishermen threw them away without attempt- 

 ing to market them. To-day they are the highest priced of our fresh water 

 fish, and the supply is unequal to the demand. If, therefore, this valuable fish 

 is not to entirely perish, some measure of protection must be accorded to it. 

 Not only should a close season be established, but a weight or length under 

 which none shall be taken should be stipulated. Many of the States have 

 already taken steps in that direction, and attempts at arti6cial propagation have 

 also been carried on for some years, not only in the United States, but in Ger- 

 many and Russia, but so far with only indifferent success ; and if restoration is 

 to be accomplished, it would seem that it must be by natural increase. There 

 is a wide difference of opinion as to its being destructive of the spawn of other 

 fish, which has been a reason urged by the fishermen why its protection 

 was not to be desired. The result of issuing licenses for sturgeon fishing 

 in Lake Nipissing for the last two years has been a very marked improvement 

 in the size of the fish. In the Rainy River much poaching has been done for 

 some years, and correspondence has been had wi' h the State of Minnesota with 

 a view to joint action to suppress it if practised next season. It is chiefly car- 

 ried on in the months of May and June, while the fish are passing from the Lake 

 of the Woods to the river to spawn. The Lake of the Woods was a few years 

 3 F. 



