21 



?nt<?d from taking 1 them, and that, owing' to the local conditions on 

 lake, winter fishing cannot he carried 011 there to any extent. 



r nder these conditions therefore, we think that fall fishing might . 



. . . Allow fall fishing 



>e allowed in Lake Winnipeg, south ol an imaginary line drawn under conditions 



east and west from the northernmost point of Big- Island, and in stated, 

 the southern part of Lake Manitoba, in the waters adjacent to the 

 locations of the actual settlers along the lake shore, the limits to be 

 defined by the fishery inspector, who would require to see that this 

 fafll fishing- was not carried on. upon recognized whitefish grounds. 

 We are of opinion that a limit of 1,000 yards of gill net of not less 

 than 4-inch extension measure is desirable, and that the license fee 

 be $3 and the period of fishing from September 1 to October 15. It 

 seems also necessary to require that skiffs only, not sail boats, should 

 be used in "this fishery, as we are satisfied that ample fishing could 

 be done if skiffs only were allowed, and it would tend to keep the fish- 

 ery within proper limits. When in our interim report we recom- 

 mended the closing of the lakes to fall fishing, we had in view prin- 

 cipally the protection of the white fish and the undersized pickerel, 

 which it was alleged had been largely taken during these fall opera- 

 tions. By prohibiting the use of the 3f-iiich mesh, the taking of 

 small pickerel will be obviated, and there is less danger to the white- 

 fish as the particular grounds which we have specified are regarded 

 as mainly coarse fish waters. 



ALLEGED DEPLETION OF MANITOBA WATERS. 



Iii our interim report, we stated our conclusion that : { All the Depletion and 

 lakes of Manitoba have been over-fished, and that some of the more 

 valuable species such as the whitefish and yellow pickerel have de- 

 creased very seriously in size and in abundance, and that the stur- 

 geon, the most valuable fish found in these waters, is on the point 

 01 extinction and can only be preserved by stringent measures.' 



But with the continued prohibition of summer fishing in Lakes 

 Winnipegosis and Manitoba, and the limitations we have re.com- 

 mended in Lake Winnipeg, namely, (1) the considerable decrease in 

 the amount of net and gear to be fished by the fishing tugs; (2) the 

 limitation of total annual summer catch of whitefish; (3) the delimi- 

 nation of the area to be commercially fished in summer; (4) by a 

 strict observance of the shortened fishing season; and (5) by con- 

 fining the main fishing operations strictly to the actual fishermen 

 residing in the province, we think these safeguards will suffice at 

 present to preserve the supply of fish, and indeed ensure permanent 

 abundance, with the aid of hatcheries. It is, however, necessary in 

 our opinion, that there should be increased strictness in requiring 

 the observance of the regulations, that the limitations previously 

 in force, and those which we now recommend, should be most rigidly 

 adhered to. In our former report, we pointed out that such regula- 

 lions as those relating to the quantity of net fished by tugs and by n eceary 

 boats, and the size of the mesh prescribed by law, had not been 

 scrupulously observed, though we still adhere to our opinion that the 

 close seasons have, on the whole, been well observed, and that fishing 

 operations have ceased on the date, or even before the date, specified 

 in the existing regulations. Of course, over the area so vast as the 

 waters of the province of Manitoba, it is difficult, with a limited 

 staff of officers, to see that all parties everywhere carry out the law. 

 Infractions of the regulations can indeed be effectively prevented 



