56 THE REPORT OF THE No. 31 



they found good fishing in the inland lakes and fairly good in the Georgian Bay, 

 in the vicinity of Parry Sound. The licensed fishermen in his division report a 

 fairly good season. The close seasons and other regulations were well observed. 



Overseer Laird, Kent, reports that the past season has been a very light one 

 for the fishermen ; in fact it has hrought ruin to more than one fisherman, and 

 others have not made enough to pay expenses, all owing, he has no doubt, to the 

 very great falling off in the herring fishing, which has been getting lighter 

 every year for several years. He has no hesitation in saying that the decrease 

 is owing to the wholesale destruction of the herring during the spawning season 

 with the gill nets, and as he has said in former reports that if some other means 

 than are being used at the present time are not adopted at onse for the better 

 protection of the herring and whitefish in the fall of the year when these fish 

 are on the spawning grounds, the fishing industry, so far as Lake Erie is con- 

 cerned, will in the very near future be a thing of the past, which, to his mind, 

 would be a great calamity to that part of the province, as there is a large 

 revenue derived from the fisheries, and the industry furnishes employment to a 

 great number of men. He believes that the fishermen have observed the law to 

 the letter, but he maintains that it is a farce to have close seasons on fish, and 

 then to allow fishing for other kinds of fish. The fishermen in his division are a 

 unit as to the necessity of stopping all fishing about the 10th November until 

 the 1st April the following year. The people in that part of the province are 

 pleased to know that at last steps are being taken to rid the waters of Rondeau 

 Bay of the carp. At the present time three parties are engaged catching these 

 fish, and although only one license was fished the past season, the coming season 

 will see all parties who hold licenses, make an earnest effort to catch their fish 

 which are destroying the feeding grounds of the wild ducks, and the Eau is be- 

 coming more and more of a resort for sportsmen during the summer season. 

 This act on the part of the department is very much appreciated by the people 

 who spend a season at this popular resort. 



Overseer Lamarsh, Essex, in submitting his annual report for his district 

 for 1902, says : " I am sorry to have to report that the past season has been one 

 of continuous disappointment and disaster to the fishermen. The nets had only 

 been set a few days last spring when a terrific gale from the south and west 

 arose, which caused great damage to the fishermen all along the shore of Lake 

 Erie. Gales and storms followed each other, so that it was almost impossible for 

 the fishermen to follow their calling properly. The value of the catch for 1902 

 in my district is only a trifle over half of the catch of 1901, the total for 1902 

 being $24,287, the general opinion of the fishermen being that the decrease was 

 mostly due to the unfavorable weather. The heavy and continuous rains 

 experienced during the whole fishing season kept the rivers, creeks and drains 

 pouring roily or muddy water into the lake, with the result that the lake water 

 for a distance of one to three miles out was kept almost muddy and dirty. 

 Herring and whitefish being clear water fish would not enter this water to any 

 extent. The catch of these two kinds, particularly herring, shows a tremendous 

 falling off from last year's catch, while those kinds of fish which delight in 

 muddy water show substantial increases. The total catch of herring for 1902 

 was only 182,294 lbs., a decrease of 385,310 lbs. from 1901. Whitefish totalled 

 up 95,417 lbs. for 1902, a decrease of 17,893 lbs. Pickerel shows a decrease of 

 16,771 lbs., the total being 174,823 lbs., while pike show a remarkable increase, 

 being 84-.014 lbs. more than 1901. Sturgeon 19,064, a decrease of 3,892 lbs. 

 Perch shows a total of 131,086 lbs., an increase of 24,535 lbs., owing no doubt to 

 the perch gill nets fished in this division during part of May. Catfish show a 

 decrease of 6,974 lbs., while mixed and coarse fish show an increase of 34,128 

 lbs. The decrease in the catch of herring is attributed to the frequent and 



