52 REPORT OF ONTARIO GAME Xu. 52 



Province, and although their distribution is such that in certain locali- 

 ties their influence is undoubtedly considerable, nevertheless it must 

 be conceded that the advantages to the Province, which would accrue 

 from the adoption of such a policy, could not fail to render it gen- 

 erally popular with the bulk of the population. Moreover, neither the 

 Provincial nor Dominion Government could be materially embarrassed 

 where both were conjointly involved in the adoption and carrying out 

 of a scheme to rehabilitate and perpetuate the fisheries. 



It would seem, then, that the field is open and the occasion on the 

 whole propitious for the introduction by the Province of a fisheries 

 policy adequate to the necessities of the case, and it is impossible to deny 

 that such a step would be in the best interests of the Province. There 

 remains, then, but to recapitulate briefly what the salient features of 

 that policy should be. 



The two outstanding evils at the root of the present situation are 

 the absolute inadequacy of the equipment and inefficiency of the Staff 

 of the Provincial Fisheries Service, and the commercial control of an 

 alien corporation. It is, therefore, to these that first and most careful 

 attention should be paid. To correct them the reorganization of the 

 Fisheries Service and the provision of a modern and adequate equip- 

 ment should be undertaken without delay on the lines indicated in the 

 Interim Report of this Commission, and simultaneously there should be 

 established in Toronto a central fish agency on the lines indicated in this 

 report. Immediate action should also be taken to prevent the further 

 export of at least the two most valuable food fishes of the great lakes, 

 the whitefish and the great lake trout. In regard to checking the present 

 annual decrease in the catch and subsequently to effecting an increase 

 in it, the establishment of Provincial fish hatchery plants should be com- 

 menced forthwith, and side by side with this measure provision should 

 be made for adequate scientific superintendence of the hatcheries and 

 for scientific research work and statistical observations. The spawning 

 seasons of the various fishes in each and every locality should be closely 

 studied and provision made for the protection of the fish during those 

 periods in the manner indicated in this report. Such areas, also, as are 

 only inhabited by the commercial fishes when about to spawn, or by the 

 young and immature of the commercial fishes, should be carefully ascer- 

 tained and set aside against commercial fishing for at least a consider- 

 able period of years. 



It is evident that the policy outlined could not be carried out in a 

 moment, or without careful preparation and arrangement, and that not 

 only would the expenditures involved have to be spread over a period 

 of years,, but that the whole question would require strong, consistent 

 and yet tactful treatment throughout the period of development, such 

 direction and impetus, in fact, as would be necessary in any walk of life 

 for the establishment of a great and prosperous industry. As was pointed 

 out in the Interim Report of this Commission, the method of adminis- 



