262 KEPOKT OF ONTAKIO GAME No. 52 



EQUIPMENT FOR THE FISHERY PROTECTIVE SERVICE. 



Your Commissioner has had the opportunity of inspecting a num- 

 ber of the boats employed by the Department of Game and Fisheries 

 on protective duties, and found tihiat none of them met all the require- 

 ments of the work they were expected to perforin. They are of widely 

 different speeds and builds. One of them, indeed, the Edna Ivan, 

 employed under charter by the Government, is so utterly unsuited to 

 protective service work that she should on no account be further char- 

 tered by the Government for this purpose. Among the 'smaller patrol 

 craft a very wide divergence exists in regard to size, speed and other 

 qualifications, some of them, in fact, having been constructed by ama- 

 teurs possessing little or no previous experience in boatbuilding. The 

 fishery regulations on the Statute Books bear witness to the recogni- 

 tion by the authorities of the importance of the fisheries, both on the 

 Great Lakes and the inland waters, to the general welfare of the com- 

 munity, and it is therefore manifestly the duty of the authorities to 

 provide an adequate equipment to ensure the proper enforcement of 

 the regulations governing the fisheries. 



It is an accepted axiom, applicable to all great enterprises, that the 

 truest economy lies in the perfection of machinery. Makeshifts, while 

 providing a convenient subterfuge for escaping present expense, but add 

 to the weight of the ultimate inevitable bill, while at the same time 

 striking dangerously close to the roots of present efficiency. 



That which applies to the daih^ life of all commercial enterprises 

 is equally true of great governmental undertakings, and, as the fishery 

 regulations have been framed for the purpose of conserving a great 

 source of public wealth, the more perfect the machinery Avhich has 

 to enforce those regulations, the more true will be the economy of the 

 government policy, aind the more profitable and stable its results. One 

 of the most important factors in the machinery of enforcement is equip- 

 ment, for without adequate equipment the most perfect officers find 

 themselves at a hopeless disadvantage, and their most strenuous efforts 

 are likely to be nullified. 



In examining into the question of ^a suitable equipment for the 

 enforcement of the fishery regulations, it becomes at once apparent 

 that the natural conditions prevailing must exercise a predominant 

 influence on the selection of the same, and a brief study of these will 

 reveal the fact that they can be classified under three main headings: 



A. The outer and most exposed portions of the Great Lakes, and 

 places where large tugs and fishing boats operate. 



I>. The inner, shallower and partially sheltered waters of the Great 

 Lakes aiud Georgian Bay. 



C. The waters of the lesser inland lakes and rivers. 



Undoubtedly an adequate protection of our commercial fisheries 

 demands protective cruisers of some size on Lakes Huron and Superior, 



