48 REPORT OF ONTARIO GAME No. 52 



111 regard to the question under review, although as has been shown 

 the Province can possibly enact indirect legislation for the prohibition 

 of the export of fishes, and certainly can virtually effect such prohibition 

 of export by the endorsation of the licenses issued to the fishermen, there 

 seems nevertheless to be little doubt that under the British North 

 America Act the Dominion Government has authority to enact the pro- 

 hibition of any or all classes of fish. Already Dominion legislation for- 

 bids the export of black bass, mascalonge and speckled trout. The 

 Dominion authority to enact the measures prohibiting the export of 

 these fishes has never been challenged in the courts, so that the action 

 of the Dominion Government in these cases cannot be held to have 

 established a conclusive precedent, but the acquiescence of the Provin- 

 cial Government in the measures would at least tend to show tacit 

 acknowledgement on its part of their validity, and it is obvious that 

 there can be no legal distinction between sporting and commercial fishes 

 in so far as jurisdiction is concerned. 



A Dominion enactment would naturally affect all classes of the 

 community, and this would put a stop to all legal exportation without 

 recourse to the endorsation of the licenses issued to fishermen and fish 

 dealers. It is evident also that whether enacted under Dominion or Pro- 

 vincial legislation, the greater the percentage of the total Ontario catch 

 that was handled by a Provincial Fish Agency, the easier would become 

 the enforcement of such a measure. 



Close Seasons, a Close Period, and Close Areas. 



There is no question that the power of enacting close seasons falls 

 exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Dominion Government. Atten- 

 tion has been called to the fact that, owing to the difference in lati- 

 tude and climatic conditions, the present dates of the close seasons do 

 not tally in many localities with the actual dates of spawning. The 

 general distribution of the fisheries of the great lakes renders it, indeed, 

 practically impossible to fix a short period for each variety of fish which 

 will cover the widely divergent dates of spawning in all the different 

 lakes, although no such difficulty would present itself if the duration 

 of the close seasons were materially increased, as has been deemed 

 advisable by many authorities, and as was recommended to the Domin- 

 ion Government by the Georgian Bay Fisheries Commission in regard 

 to the Avhitefish. 



While, however, the power of the Dominion Government to fix such 

 close seasons as its wisdom may direct is incontestable, and such sea- 

 sons could not in any way be abbreviated by the Provincial Government, 

 it is apparently within the powers of the Provincial Government to add 

 to the Dominion close seasons, if it should so desire, by endorsing the 

 commercial net licenses Avitli dates which would make them valid for a 

 shorter period than that allowed under Dominion regulation. Such at 

 least is the opinion of the present Deputy Attorney-General of the 



