1912 AND FI«HBBI©S COMMISSION. 41 



mission, with especial reference to the whiteflsh, and a further quotation 

 from that report Ik, therefore, made: — 



" As we have pointed out, the whitefish in the Georgian Bay, and in 

 fact all over Canada, so far as our knowledge and observation teaches 

 us, is becoming almost depleted, and there is no one but who will say 

 that the adoption of any measure, however radical it may be, which Avill 

 preserve and increase the whitefish of Canada, is justifiable. The only 

 class who can at all complain of such a measure would be United States 

 citizens, and a handful of fishermen in Canada. As to the first class, we 

 need not concern ourselves, and as to the fishermen, we firmly believe 

 they will get in any event as high a price for the whitefish sold in Canada 

 as they are now paid by the monopolistic companies who control their 

 catch. That this measure would redound to the benefit of the Canadian 

 citizen goes without question. We have met with innumerable com- 

 plaints from all quarters of the Province that Canadians cannot get 

 Canadian fish to eat, and the extraordinary fact has been brought out 

 beyond dispute that a large percentage of the Canadian fish which is 

 used by the Canadian consumer is caught in Canadian waters, goes to 

 the United States markets, and is then brought back to Canada and sold. 

 The great objection which the fishermen will have to the measure is that 

 there is no fish market in Canada to consume all the whitefish which 

 is caught, but we believe that such is not the case, and that, owing to the 

 fast diminishing catch of whitefish which is occurring from year to year, 

 and the vastly increasing population which is pouring into Canada, the 

 Canadian consumer, if afforded opportunities of purchasing, will totally 

 consume all the whitefish catch of the Dominion of Canada, and will 

 pay as good a price as can be had for the fish to-day. More particularly, 

 if the government fish agencies which we have recommended are estab- 

 lished, will it assist the fisherman in disposing of his catch. There is 

 no doubt that after the measure should become law, a great number of 

 fishermen will build their own ice-houses and their own fishing stations, 

 and not be dependent on the American companies for the necessities of 

 their calling. But, for those who do not, if the government agencies are 

 established, t® which tWe fisherman knows that he can at once, and with- 

 out extra trouble, dispose of his whitefish, it will, we believe, detract 

 very materially, and in fact do away altogether with, any objection he 

 might raise to the prohibition of the export of whitefish. 



If this recommendation be carried out, it must also be remembered 

 that the American market is still open for the vast quantities of fish, 

 forming two-thirds of the total catch of the Canadian fishermen, of 

 trout and pickerel and other fish of coarser varieties, which find a ready 

 sale in their markets; and we believe also that, as the Americans are 

 dependent on our fish, the cutting off of one-third of their imports from 

 Canada will necessarily raise the price to the Canadian catcher of those 

 fisli which can be taken into the United States." 



