1904 DEPARNMENT 0E FISHERIES. 11 



Close Seasons. 



To aid in the preservation of the fisheries, and having regard to the limited capa- 

 city of the hatcheries in the Province, it has been deemed proper heretofore to main- 

 tain restrictions on the taking of fish at certain seasons of the year. The seasons, how- 

 ever, it is said, do not apply effectively to the Province as a whole, and the consequence is 

 that a systematic effort is every year made by fishermen or their friends to have one 

 or other curtailed ; and the pressure has usually been so persistent as to be 

 irresistible. But where privileges have been granted in one section and withheld) in 

 another, as has been done in recent years, much dissatisfaction arises, and the en- 

 forcement of the law in the latter is made practically impossible. If, therefore, a close 

 season is to be of service, it would appear necessary, to remove existing inequalities, 

 that the Province should be divided into zones, and as nearly as may be an appro- 

 priate season fixed for each. The season should then not be tampered with, but 

 should be strictly enforced. Proving possession under such conditions would be not 

 more difficult than under a system which approves of the maintenance of a close time 

 in o e loca'ity and its abolition in another. The Province can only suggest, however, as 

 the subject is wholly within the jurisdiction of the Dominion ; but it is at the same 

 ti' ■ so closely allied to Provincial administration, and so vitally affects Provincial prop- 

 erty, that it is considered quite within the function of the Department to make these ob- 

 servations. 



The Sale of Game Fish. 



Notwithstanding that the sab; of speckled trout, bass and maskinonge is prohibited 

 by i.:tute, and notwithstanding that heavy penalities have in the past been imposed for 

 the offence, the Department has learned that game fish are occasionally taken, market- 

 ed, and disposesd of surreptitiously ; and this state of affairs may be expected to con- 

 tinue so long as persons unscrupulous enough to purchase the fish may be found. The 

 Department has required its officers to be specially vigilant in the examination of ship- 

 ments and the premises of dealers, and to do this at frequent intervals, though no 

 specific instructions for an examination should be received. It can hardly be credited 

 that these fish are being taken 'by the licensed fishermen, as they fully understand 

 that the consequence would be the cancellation of the licenses, and. therefore, the loss of 

 their means of livelihood. 



Dynamiting. 



Reports from the St. Lawrence, in the vicinity of Brockville and Cornwall, have 

 again been received that fish were being dynamited, and special efforts were put forth 

 to apprehend the parties, but without success. The offenders, who were believed to 

 cross the river from the American side, pursued their nefarious work at night, which 

 mad*, it difficult for the regular officers to bring them to account, and another year 

 a substantial reward should be offered for information that would lead to the con- 

 viction of the parties. A term in gaol, without the option of a fine, would be the pro- 

 per reward for such conduct. 



Stocking. 



The most important work, or that, perhaps, of which most has been heard, in 

 which the Department has been engaged during the year, is the continuation of that 

 so vigorously entered upon in iqoi, viz., the re-stocking of our inland waters with 

 black bass, its game and edible qualities fully justifying the high esteem in which it 

 is held by the Department as the best all-round! fish for introduction into our waters. 

 Deposits have been made in no less than J55 different lakes and rivers. Attention has 

 been again chiefly directed to waters where large numbers of persons congregate during 

 the summer, over 4.0CO fish having been placed in Lake? Muskoka, Joseph and Rosseau 

 alone. These lakes are reported to be teeming with small bass ; and the same may, 

 in fact, be said of all waters which have been stocked, namely, that they are literally 



