24 



EEPORT OF ONTAKIO GAME 



No. 52 



These figures would seem to demonstrate that intensive planting is 

 capable of producing great results. 



It is not sufficient, however, to have arrived at this conclusion. 

 There remains to be examined the extent to which these hatchery and 

 planting operations must be carried to produce effective results. An 

 examination of the records of the Canadian waters of Lake Ontario, or 

 of the American waters of Lake Superior, two examples of fishery areas 

 in which moderate planting operations have been conducted, will show 

 that in both instances the catch of fish has decreased, in spite of an in- 

 crease in the amounts of net used. 



Average Yearly Plant, Catch and Fathoms of Net in Usic in the Canadian Waters of 

 Lake Ontario. Whitefish Area, 1,400 Square Miles. 



Average Yearly Plant, Catch and Fathoms of Net in Use in the American Waters of 

 Lake Superior. Whitefish Area, 2,400 Square Miles. 



It would appear, then, to be demonstrated by the above two in- 

 stances that in these particular waters the extent of the hatching and 

 fry planting operations was insufficient in comparison with the amount 

 of fishing being carried on. 



From these two examples, taken in conjunction with the results 

 obtained in Lake Erie, it would seem just to conclude that the effects 

 of a plant should appear in a definite ratio on the fisheries, and that, 

 consequently, it should be possible to determine what that ratio is. The 

 practical difficulties in the way of such an investigation are, however, 

 considerable, for, as it has already been pointed out, to arrive at definite 

 results it is essential to consider fishery areas as a whole, and not 

 according to the imaginary boundaries dividing the adjacent waters of 

 states, provinces or nations. Thus, to determine definitely the ratio of 

 plant to the square mile, or to the pound of fish caught, required to 

 maintain decreasing fisheries to their existing capacity, it would be 

 necessary to have the whitefish area of each lake or body of water sys- 

 tematically planted, for it is improbable that the local conditions of the 

 individual areas would be sufficiently similar to produce like results in 

 all of them. The greatest efforts in fry planting have, however, so far 



