in 1966. Maintenance and repair of nets and their efficient 

 use was demonstrated, along with the recommended 

 methods of icing and packing fish products. The work is 

 expected to raise the level of efficiency of operation, and to 

 increase the quality and the value of the fish. The aim is 

 to help commercial fishermen in northern communities 

 achieve a better living from the resource. 

 At Lake of the Woods, personnel from the Regional Net 

 Section at Port Arthur demonstrated trap nets for a third 

 season. Commercial fishermen, who have traditionally used 

 gill nets, were acquainted with the design and use of this 

 type of impounding net. At the same time, its feasibility for 

 use in Lake of the Woods was tested further. Many fisher- 

 men were impressed with the effectiveness of the trap net 

 and some acknowledged their intention of converting their 

 present fisheries to this form of gear. The increasing use 

 of trap nets in lieu of gill nets is expected to have a bene- 

 ficial effect on relations between the various interests who 

 depend on the fishery to provide either profit or recreation. 

 Competition for space or for particular species can be 

 materially reduced where trap nets can be employed. 

 Initial steps were taken to develop programs for exploratory 

 trawling in Lake Huron, and for the granting of technical 

 and financial assistance in pilot studies carried out by the 

 fishing industry in areas of fish transport and processing. 

 The decision to expand projects in these fields was based 

 upon the need to encourage the establishment of markets 

 for abundant but, presently, little used species in Ontario 

 waters, and to develop modern fisheries by which these fish 

 can be taken efficiently and profitably. 

 In 1966, the Department maintained a bait fish market intel- 

 ligence service in southern Ontario through which informa- 

 tion on supplies was collected from wholesalers of bait and 

 conveyed to dealers looking for expanded or new sources 

 of supply. The wholesaling side of the bait fish industry has 

 developed significantly in recent years and may be credited 

 with a major portion of the $1.3 million in sales recorded 

 in 1966. Wholesaling enterprises, with their greater capitaliz- 

 ation in catching and holding equipment and facilities, have 

 contributed materially to much needed continuity in bait 

 fish supplies. They had not been fully effective in making 

 fish available because of lack of contact with the widespread 

 retail outlets. The market intelligence service has success- 

 fully eliminated much of this problem by introducing the 

 wholesalers to dealers. 



A bait fish workshop, which afforded persons in the industry 

 an opportunity of obtaining technical advice from fish cul- 

 turists and biologists, was conducted. Instruction was given 

 in capturing techniques, handling procedures, holding and 

 transportation methods and disease treatment. In addition, 

 the fundamentals of culturing bait fish were discussed. 

 Further advice and assistance was provided by an experi- 

 enced fish culturist who visited sites of operation, inspected 

 facilities and examined fish for disease at intervals during 

 the season. 



REGULATIONS 



Regulations requiring the holder of a commercial fishing 

 licence to report his fishing activity each month were 

 amended in 1966. Reports were required to be submitted to 

 field offices instead of Fish and Wildlife Branch seven days 

 earlier, on the 8th of each month. After preliminary check- 

 ing, the reports are forwarded to the Commercial Fish Unit 

 for coding and data processing. As a result of these changes, 

 information needed for the administration of quotas and for 

 other management purposes became available to Depart- 

 mental personnel at an earlier date, and reliability was 

 increased. Unnecessary delay in the preparation of tabula- 

 tions and summaries of fishing statistics was removed. 

 Monofilament gill nets, which have been found to be more 

 efficient than nets constructed with woven nylon fibres, were 



banned from Lake Ontario at the request of the Eastern 

 Lake Ontario Commercial Fishermen's Association. In this 

 instance, the fears of the fishermen that the gear would be 

 too efficient in their whitefish fishery was the basis for the 

 action. 



Development and expansion of the bait-fish industry led to 

 a change in licensing regulations and a resultant fee in- 

 crease in 1966. For the first time, all bait-fish fishermen were 

 required to obtain a bait-fish dealer's licence before live bait 

 fish, taken under the authority of a seine net, dip net or trap 

 licence, were sold. As a result of this change, the number of 

 dealer's licences more than doubled over the previous year. 

 The regulations with respect to the use of dip nets to take 

 coarse fish for personal use were amended for 1965, allow- 

 ing holders of the licence to harvest whitefish or herring in 

 October, November or December from waters designated in 

 the licence. This permission is not granted for waters in 

 which commercial fishing for whitefish is carried out. 

 The Department did not introduce regulations to restrict 

 taking of kokanee. This new introduction into parts of Lake 

 Huron and Lake Ontario began to show evidence during the 

 year of successful survival from plantings made two years 

 earlier. It was considered essential to obtain maximum in- 

 formation about this exotic species before inaugurating any 

 restrictions on its capture. 



PROJECTS 



Measurements and scale samples were obtained from 

 several thousand walleye and whitefish taken in commercial 

 nets, following the implementation of commercial catch in- 

 spections by the Fish and Wildlife staff on Lakes Erie, St. 

 Clair and Huron. Information concerning the abundance, 

 growth, mortality and reproduction of fishes thus obtained 

 has value in determining proper management measures. It 

 is planned that this program will be further developed on 

 these lakes and extended to other major commercial 

 fisheries. 



Attention was focused during the year to solution of prob- 

 lems in the marketing of Ontario fish and fish products. A 

 special study was conducted on the subject of benefits to 

 the industry arising from a proposed licensing of fish dealers 

 in Ontario. Staff worked on an inter-provincial committee 

 considering details of a fish marketing organization as pro- 

 posed by the Royal Commission on Freshwater Fish Market- 

 ing, and the subject was brought before the fishery. In Lake 

 Erie, the Prices Support Board began a one-year price sup- 

 port program placing a floor price of 10 cents per pound on 

 yellow perch. The program was later extended to include all 

 Ontario produced yellow perch. 

 THE COMMERCIAL FISHERY 



The fishery produced over 56 million pounds of fish in 1966, 

 worth nearly six million dollars to the primary producers. 

 Total capital in the fishery was valued at over 10 million 

 dollars. As a result of Departmental policies, the total num- 

 ber of fisheries continued to decline, with the number of 

 licences down to 1,822 from 1,881 in 1965. Reduction in the 

 number of fishing enterprises along with increased catch 

 resulted in a slight increase in the average earning per 

 fishing unit. 



Fisheries Inventory 



This Unit is responsible for the development of an efficient 

 inventory of the waters of the Province; for coordinating and 

 enlarging the province-wide lake and stream survey pro- 

 grams; for establishing data retrieval and analysis systems 

 for the use of inventory information for management pur- 

 poses, and for the dissemination to the public and other 

 agencies. 

 PROJECTS 



it was possible to accomplish much in the way of planning 

 during the short period the Unit was functional in the 1966- 

 1967 fiscal year. The groundwork was laid for a data process- 

 ing system to handle data from over 3,000 lakes which have 



