REPORT 



OF THE 



DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES 



FOR THE YEAR 

 1903. 



To the Honorable F. R. Latchford, Commissioner of Fisheries for Ontario : 



The undersigned has the honor to submit herewith the Fifth Annual Report of 'the 

 Department of Fisheries for the year ending 31st December, 1903. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The returns indicate a small diminution in the catch as compared with that of 

 1902. The demand for fish has, however, been active, and the prices exceptionally 

 high ; so that the estimated value of the catch is considerably greater than that of last 

 year. In Lakes Superior, Huron and the Georgian Bay the falling off is again attrib- 

 uted to the rough weather, which prevailed throughout the greater part of the season, 

 and not to a scarcity of fish, for when the weather permitted the catches are said to 

 have been unusually large. In Lake Erie the gradual shrinkage from year to year 

 may, it is believed, be directly chargeable to the greed of American fishermen, and to 

 the practically unlimited privileges which they have been allowed. They have operated 

 with every kind of implement, and, virtually, without restraint. This is assumed to 

 be the principal reason why the stringent restrictions which have been so long main- 

 tained by Ontario have not been more effective in increasing the yield on this side of 

 the lake; and unless a disposition is manifested on the part of the American authorities 

 to take immediate action in the direction of effective preservative regulations and safe- 

 guards; no tangible or defensible argument can be adduced against the claim of our 

 fishermen to equally participate in the extermination. The matter is further touched 

 upon in the paragraph, "The Great Lake Fisheries." 



A diminished catch in a number of places has no doubt resulted from the fact 

 that many of the fishermen, finding other employment more remunerative, abandoned 

 their fishing operations for a portion of the year, or did not pursue them with the 

 assiduity they perhaps would otherwise have done 



The cause of a shortage in a certain portion of a lake in one season as compared 

 with arother sometimes arises from the fact that, owing to rough weather, the fisher- 

 men may not be able to lift their nets for several days. The fish decompose and pol- 

 lute the water, and the effect is noticeable for the remainder of the season. Orrf 

 own fishermen have suffered considerably in that respect, but not to the same extent 

 it is believed that the American fishermen have done. We gather from a report of one 

 of the States bordering on Lake Erie that fifty miles of net are claimed to have been 



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