16 THE REPORT OF THE No. 31 



water upon which the adults of some fishes and the young of all are depend- 

 ent. The subject is one of practical utility and of growing public interest, 

 aDd the results of the investigations as they are from time to time published 

 will be read with peculiar interest. The station is attached to the Depart- 

 ment of Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, and the expense of its maintenance 

 is borne by the Dominion Government. Its only relation to this Depart- 

 ment is in connection with the privilege which it obtains for the use of nets 

 to facilitate the capture of needed specimens, which privilege has, of course, 

 always been promptly and gladly extended. 



Revenue and Expenditure. 



The revenue from all sources has been $47,883.14, and the expenditure 

 $34,352.17, leaving a balance on the right side of $13,530-97. Details of 

 the expenditure, including Departmental salaries, as well as those of over- 

 seers, are to be found in the Public Accounts, and it ha-s, therefore, been 

 considered unnecessary to reprint them here. 



Reports. 



The report of the captain of the "Gilphie," containing an account of 

 the work done during the year, will be found at p. 47. The steamer sailed 

 out of winter quarters on the 5th May, and was tied up on the 9th Decem- 

 ber. 



The reports of the overseers deal with the condition of the fisheries 

 in their respective divisions, state what disposition was made of the catch, 

 whether the laws were observed, assign reasons for an increase or diminu- 

 tion in the quantity of fish taken, as the case may be, and, generally, con- 

 ta'n much information not to be found in the statistical tables. . They will 

 wen repay a careful perusal. 



Statistics. 



The tables which follow have been compiled with the utmost care, and 

 it has been the endeavor of the Department that the data furnished shall 

 be as complete and reliable as it was possible to make it with the means 

 for its collection at the Department's command. 



There having been no plan available by which the quantity of game 

 fish- — -bass, speckled trout, and maskinonge, caught by tourists and other 

 anglers throughout the whole Province, could be even estimated, the tables 

 contain nothing upon the subject. Figures, of course, are meaningless 

 and of no practical value unless arrived at upon a basis which will insure 

 reasonably accurate results. It may be said, however, that angling nearly 

 everywhere has been good, and that anglers have had no difficulty in se- 

 curing the lawful number. 



Acknowledgments . 



Several fine specimens have been received, for which the Department 

 is under great obligation to the donors, a 54 lb. maskinonge from near Kil- 

 larney, on the north shore of the Georgian Bay, a steel head salmon from 

 Xipi^on Bay, and an almost hitherto unknown visitor to Canadian waters, 

 a paddle or spoonbill catfish 5 ft. in length taken near the mouth of the Span- 

 ish River, being perhaps the most prized. All have been mounted, and 



