1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. 47 



such as may from time to time be necessary, although, of course, such 

 licenses are issued only with the understanding that fishing shall be 

 carried on under the general rules and regulations enacted by the 

 Dominion Government. The possession of a license, therefore, presum- 

 ably entitles the licensee to the absolute possession of such fish as he 

 may legally catch while fishing under the Dominion regulations and 

 further restrictions of the Province, so that he is entitled to market his 

 catch where and how he pleases. There is, however, no apparent reason 

 why tlie license should not be endorsed with a provision to the effect 

 that the fish, or certain specific classes of fish, must only be sold for 

 home consumption, which, plainly, would be tantamount to a prohibi- 

 tion of export of the varieties of fish referred to. An analogous endorse- 

 ment of a license occurs in the case of timber limits on Crown lands, the 

 provision being to the effect that raw timber shall not be exported but 

 must first be milled in the Province, and it is difficult to conceive that 

 there should be any legal differentiation between the products of the 

 forests and the fisheries, in so far as Provincial legislative powers are 

 concerned, seeing that both, under the British North America Act, are 

 the property of the Province, and consequently within Provincial juris- 

 diction. 



In the Case of the timber an Act was passed forbidding the export 

 of raw timber cut on Crown lands, so that in the matter of restricting 

 the sale of certain fishes to the home market a similar course might pos- 

 sibly be adopted by the Provincial Legislature, that is, indirect pro- 

 hibition of export legislation might be introduced, the particular pro- 

 visions of the Act in respect to the non-export of certain varieties of 

 fish being, as in the case of timber, endorsed on each license issued. 



A difficulty might arise through the actions of middlemen who, hav- 

 ing purchased the fish from the fishermen on the understanding that it 

 was for home consumption, might none the less decide to ship it abroad. 

 In fact, under present conditions some such action on the part of the 

 monopolies could reasonably be anticipated. Hence, to make the 

 measure effective under Provincial Law, it would appear necessary to 

 license the middlemen and retail fish dealers, and to endorse their 

 licenses with a provision similar to that on the license of the commercial 

 net fishermen. The Provincial Government can, of course, put under 

 license any business or occupation it may select, and the endorsation of 

 the license in the second and third channels of trade with a non-export 

 or home consumption provision would clearly be valid if it were so in 

 the case of the first, namely the commercial net fishermen. 



Under the British North America Act are defined the jurisdictions 

 of the Dominion and Provinces, but it occurs occasionally that, while 

 one section apparently places a matter within the jurisdiction of the 

 Province, another section can be interpreted as placing the same matter 

 under Dominion authority. In such cases, if the question were con- 

 tested, the Dominion ruling would apparently be held to prevail. 



