32 THE REPORT OF THE No. 31 



would benefit by saving fishing gear, of which a great loss occurs every year in these 

 waters. 



The various close seasons and prohibitions were well observed. 



Overseer Laird, Guilds, County Kent, reports that fishing commenced about the 

 first of May. There were no heavy runs of fish during the whole season ; in fact, the 

 Herxing and Whitefish are steadily decreasing- every year. In 1899 there were caught 

 in his division 3,624,130 pounds of Herring and 68,030 pounds of Whitefish ; in 1900, 

 2,771.09', pounds of Herring and 33,449 pounds of Whitefish ; in 1901, 2,059,751 pounds of 

 Herring and 52,562 pounds of Whitefish; in 1902, 553,190 pounds of Herring and 29,660 

 pounds of Whitefish ; in 1903, 409,932 pounds of Herring and 22,710 pounds of White- 

 fish, so that except an 1891, when there was a large increase of Whitefish, these two 

 kinds of fish have been decreasing at an alarming rate, and as the Herring fishery of 

 Lake Lrie a few years ago was more valuable than all other kinds of fishing, it should 

 surely set the Government thinking as to what is the cause of this very large de- 

 crease. In his opinion there is one, and only one, cause, and that is the wholesale 

 destruction of the Herring and Whitefish with gill nets during the spawning season in 

 th< latter part of November and the fore part of December, when these fish are on 

 the reefs. It is a well-known fact that when these fish are heavy with spawn they 

 cannot be caught in pound nets, as they will not follow the iead, but at such times 

 they are an easy mark for the gill net. If there is not better protection provided for 

 these fish in the very near future, it will he of no use to fish the waters of Lake Erie 

 for Herring and Whitefish, in fact, he is almost afraid it is too late now to expect any 

 great amount of Herring to be caught in Lake Erie. However, he would like to see 

 something done to better protect these two valuable kinds of fish, and he thinks it 

 would be worth the experiment to make a close season, say from the 15th of November 

 to the 1st of April, and not to allow any gill netting at any time. He believes it is a 

 great mistake to license gill nets in any waters that can be fished with pound nets : 

 he also believes there are too many pound nets being fished. He thinks that three 

 nets are all* that anyone should be allowed to fish. 



He is pleased to see that at last some effort is being made to come to some un- 

 derstanding with the border States, so as to have a uniform close season established. If 

 this had been done ten years ago there would not have been such a great decrease 

 in the Herring and Whitefish as has taken place in the last five years. Rond Eau Bay, 

 which was a few years ago a grand sporting water, is not at the present time nearly 

 so good, from what cause he would not like to express a very decided opinion. Of 

 course, he has his own views on the matter. In the first place, he believes the 

 Carp were allowed to secure a very strong foothold before means were taken to ex- 

 terminate them ; but as means are now being employed to rid the bay, or at least 

 to keep these robbers down, he believes with care the waters of Rond Eau Bay can 

 be made a sportsmen's paradise again. 



There should be Black Bass planted in these waters, so as to keep up the supply 

 of this game fish; and as they have no Trout or Maskinonge fishing in Rond Eau Bay, 

 something should be done to keep up and protect the game fish that are there. The 

 Eau is becoming more and more every year a resort for summer tourists ; in fact, 

 there is no time during the summer season when this popular resort is free of local or 

 foreign tourists. It is the only sporting water in Western Ontario "of any size. 



The fishermen have observed the close season strictly, but have raised a great 

 deal cf objection to the close season on Sturgeon. They think it a hardship to have 

 to throw out these fish, when at that time of year there is always a light catch of all 

 other kin-'s. 



Overseer Legault, Sturgeon Falls, reports that the catch for the past year has 

 been greater than the combined catch of the two previous years, and the fish were of 

 a fine quality. Old experienced fishermen say that with a careful conservation there 



