180 FISHERIES OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 



pecially in the latter case), no strong inducement to protect 

 it at the very time when protection is most necessary, that 

 is, during the spawning season, in the months of September, 

 October and November; while if they were made to run 

 from the beginning of the close season to the end of the 

 angling season in the following year, lessees would have a 

 personal interest in protecting for their own benefit. Unless, 

 therefore, the Government is disposed and prepared to main- 

 tain really efficient guardianship over all public rivers, and to 

 put down poaching and illegal fishing with a firm hand, it 

 would seem advisable that leases be made to run from the 

 1st of September to the 31st of August following. I think 

 this opinion of the case is supported by the fact that appli- 

 cation for leases for next year have already begun to come in. 



' ' The prospective value of most of these rivers for angling 

 purposes depends very much upon the course that may be 

 pursued with regard to them. If re-stocked where re-stocking 

 is necessary, and well protected for a few years by the Gov- 

 ernment, or leased under a system that will ensure their pro- 

 tection by the lessees, there is no doubt that being easy of 

 access they will be in great demand. The number of ap- 

 plications made to the Department this year for rivers is 

 sufficient to indicate this. From the strong desire to secure 

 rivers expressed by parties whom I met on my trip and the 

 prices that some told me they would willingly pay, I am of 

 opinion that all the rivers now under lease would fetch much 

 higher rents if put up to competition. 



' ' In considering the question as to whether it is expedient 

 in the interest of the province to continue the system of leas- 

 ing or to substitute the policy of selling the lands to which 

 fishing rights pertain, it must be borne in mind that there are 

 other interests almost as intimately connected with the rivers 

 of the province as salmon fishing, and the possibility of clash- 

 ing between these separate interests should be foreseen and 

 guarded against. It may be assumed that in the surveyed 

 lands where settlement has made any progress, very few lots 

 of any value on account of the fishing rights which pertain to 

 them remain undisposed of. The public, or some individual 



