31 



the books of the respective firms, and on these returns, which should 

 be sworn to as correct, a royalty, say of one-quarter of a cent per 

 pound on all whitefish, pickerel and sturgeon, should be collected by 

 the Dominion. An increase:! revenue of this kind would not only 

 put the fish firms in a fairer position in the public eye, but would 

 justify the government in a larger expenditure both on hatcheries 

 and on the supervision and enforcement of the fishery regulations, 

 and the improvement of the fisheries generally. 



HATCHERIES. 



In our interim report we urged that increased attention should ^ ew hatcheries 

 be given by the department to extend the hatchery operations by 

 electing new hatcheries and by increasing the efficiency of their 

 operation. We referred to the prevalent feeling in the province 

 respecting the serious mismanagement which happened in certain 

 seasons formerly, whereby some hatcheries practically were not in 

 operation for one or two seasons. Manitoba fisheries during those 

 seasons lost the benefit of the output of young fish which should have 

 been secured had the arrangements been properly and effectively 

 carried out. As a matter of fact, a large quantity of whitefish were 



taken in the spawning season, and this whitefish, we understand, _. 



, . 11,1 11,1 ,1 i i i Certain hatcheries 



were shipped by the carload to the markets and sold, but the hatch- f a ii ec j to operate to 



eries, which should have benefited by the catch of these spawning * he loss of the fish 

 fish, received either no "spawn at all, or the supplies of spawn were in 

 such bad condition that they were practically useless, and the hatch- 

 eries could not he properly operated. The evidence brought before 

 the Commission clearly proved that on Lake Winnipegosis this was 

 emphatically the case, and that there was a serious lack of proper 

 management, and that the system adopted for securing spawn was an Winnipegosis 

 altogether unreliable and undesirable one. We are aware that the ^iki 6 * ^ 

 department, when the matter came to its attention, had a special 

 officer sent to Lake Winnipegosis and we have every reason to 

 believe that recently a great improvement has taken place and that 

 matters have been put on a more workable basis. On Lake Winni- 

 peg the supplies of spawn for the Selkirk and Berens river hatcheries 

 pre obtained on the Little Saskatchewan or Dauphin rivers, and 

 almost every season, on account of the early making of the ice, there 

 is great risk that the supplies of spawn cannot be brought down 

 from there; hence we think it highly desirable that a hatchery plant 

 should be erected on the Little Saskatchewan river, which could be Little Saskatchewan 

 carried on not only as an independent hatchery but could be used for hatchery necessary, 

 taking care of the supplies of eggs and holding them for shipmen-t 

 later to other hatcheries, if the conditions at the time were not 

 favourable. The experience of many years has shown, that the Little 

 Saskatchewan river can be relied upon for abundant supplies of eggs. 

 We do not think that the Selkirk hatchery is an ideal one for white- 

 fish, which, ever since its construction has been the principal fish 

 included in its operation, an?d we are of opinion that greater promi- 

 nence should be given to the hatching of pickerel at this hatchery, 

 The pickerel, or dore, is an increasingly valuable commercial fish, and Selkirk hatchery 

 to keep up the supply in Lake Winnipeg, or in Manitoba generally, "I^J^nd be a 

 or to substantially increase the supply, is most desirable. The Sel- distributing centre, 

 kirk hatchery bein<g centrally located, it would form an admirable 

 distributing point for shipping whitefish and pickerel to the various 

 parts of the province. The building of other hatcheries in Mani- 



