1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. 69 



• 



(8) That steps be taken to ascertain scientifically whether or not 

 the waters of Lake of the Woods and surrounding lakes are adapted to 

 the maintenance of black bass life, and in the event of this being found 

 to be the case, for the establishment of a series of bass breeding ponds in 

 the district. 



(9) That the commercial net licenses issued for Lake of the Woods 

 be endorsed with a clear statement of the district for which they are 

 valid, and that subsequent to the establishment of Provincial fish agen- 

 cies and the introduction of a more effective system of administration of 

 the fisheries, as recommended in the above and other sections of this 

 Report, the experiment be made of placing at least the pound net licenses 

 up to public tender. 



LAKE NIPIGON. 



At the present time very little is known as to the possibilities of the 

 commercial fisheries in this beautiful sheet of water. Some years ago a 

 company was formed for the purpose of exploiting these fisheries, but, 

 although the necessary licenses were obtained, no great efforts were 

 made to take advantage of them, owing chiefly to the difficulties of trans- 

 portation which at that time precluded the possibility of getting the fish 

 to the markets excepting during the winter months, and, in consequence, 

 after a short season of apathetic operation and indifferent financial suc- 

 cess, the company relinquished its undertaking. Since then no further 

 experiments have been made in the direction of testing these fisheries. 

 From these restricted operations, however, taken in conjunction with 

 the experience and observations of local inhabitants and Indians, there 

 is sufficient evidence to warrant the assumption that the lake contains 

 goodly quantities of the better classes of the commercial fishes, such as 

 the lake trout, whitefish, sturgeon and pickerel. 



At the present time a light steam railway, running in connection 

 with a steamboat service on the lower reaches of the Nipigon River, con- 

 nects South Bay on the lake with Nipigon Station on the "Canadian 

 Pacific Railway on Lake Superior. A mile or so to the north of the lake 

 the roadbed of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway is already in process 

 of construction, and a deviation has been built to Ombabika Bay on the 

 lake, while the proposed route of the Canadian Northern Railway will 

 bring it within touch of the lake's eastern shores. It would seem, there- 

 fore, that the time is fast approaching, if, indeed, it has not actually 

 arrived, when serious efforts will be made to exploit the commercial fish- 

 eries of Lake Nipigon, and it remains, then, to be examined how far it 

 would be advisable to encourage such an enterprise. 



Tlie lake itself lies within the boundaries of the Nipigon Forest Re- 

 serve and drains into Lake Superior througli the channels of one of the 

 most beautiful and extraordinary rivers in the world, the River Nipigon. 

 This river, with its cold, clear-green waters, with its wonderful pan- 



6 P.O. 



