1912 AND FISHEKIES COMMISSION. 89 



ment of the licenise in the matter of the deliberate destruction or sale 

 of sporting fishes be punished by a fine of not less than |100 on each of 

 the parties concerned, together with the cancellation of the licenses, if 

 any, under which the business of either is being conducted, and that the 

 offenders be debarred from securing any commercial fish license what- 

 soever for a period of five years. 



THE SPORTING FISHERIES. 



The Economic Function of the Sporting Fisheries. 



The truth of the old saying, " All work and no play makes Jack a 

 dull boy," has long been recognized by those- connected with or inter- 

 ested in the moral, physical and educational development of the child 

 and youth, and under the advance of modem civilization greater efforts 

 are continually being put forth to ensure for all 3^'oung people through- 

 out the early years of their business careers an abundance of wholesome 

 diversions. Moreover, in view of the fact that fresh air is one of the 

 prime necessities of a healthy body, especial attention is paid to sports, 

 giames and other means of inducing them to spend a considerable portion 

 of their leisure hours out in the open. The importance, however, of 

 drawing the older citizens, most of whose time is spent in the office or 

 factory, out into the country or on to the waters of the lakes and rivers, 

 w^here they also may breathe for a space pure and invigorating air, is 

 more generally overlooked, and yet it is more than doubtful whether 

 from the point of view of the well-being and prosperity of the nation this 

 is not an equally important problem. Much of the physical deteriora- 

 tion prevailing in the more congested areas of great cities, and the vices 

 and evils existing in cities and towns alike, are to be attributed in great 

 part to lack of sufficient inducement to the people to seek health and 

 wholesome exercise elsewhere than on the streets, and it must, therefore, 

 be apparent that where an attraction does exist which is capable of draw- 

 ing thousands daily, or at least weeklv, out into the open air and pro- 

 viding them with both exercise and amusement, it must be morally and 

 economically advantageous to foster and develop that attraction by 

 every possible means. The potentialities of angling rank high in this 

 regard. The sport is suitable to both sexes and to all ages, from the 

 young child to the old man and woman. It is within the means of the 

 poor as of the wealthy, for the most expensive equipment is but little 

 guarantee of greater success than that wliich will be attained with the 

 humblest tools, as is well evidenced by the fact that in 1909 the largest 

 recorded small-mouthed black bass of the year caught in Provincial 

 waters was captured by an eleven-year-old cliild by means of an ordin- 

 ary pole with a hook and line attached thereto, while also it must be 



