Eighth Annual Report 



OF THE 



Department of Game and Fisheries of 



Ontario 



To the Honourable F. G. Macdiarmid, 



Minister of Public WorJcs. 



Sir, — I have the honour to submit for your consideration the report of the 

 Department of Game and Fisheries for the fiscal year ending October 31st, 1914. 



Laws and Regulations. 



The amendments to the Ontario Game and Fisheries Act enacted during the 

 session of 1914 contained two important provisions; one limited the season's bag 

 for ducks, and the other provided for the licensing of fur dealers. According to 

 the reports of overseers, the bag limit has proved so liberal that few have been 

 tempted to exceed it, and the fortunate few have been sufficiently public spirited 

 to pay regard to it. 



The licensing, of fur-dealers was a istep towards increasing the control exer- 

 cised over the wild fur-bearing animals of the Province, with the object of 

 preserving them from extinction. Unless a step further is taken and the trappers 

 also compelled to take out licenses, it will not be possible for the Department to 

 render to the Province the service that is expected from it. When the licensing of 

 the fur dealers was proposed, it was contemplated that trappers also should be 

 included, but objections were raised on the ground that it would inflict a hard- 

 ship on farmers and farmers' sons, particularly in the districts where the returns 

 from the cultivation of the soil were so poor that they had to be supplemented, 

 and consequently the new provision was restricted to the dealers. 



That their inclusion would have been appreciated by the trappers has been 

 clearly demonstrated to the Department since the Act was amended. Several* of 

 them have applied for licenses, and many more have urged the desirability in the 

 interests of the Province, of the animals, and of the trappers themselves, that 

 trapping should be more thoroughly regulated than it is at present. From non- 

 resident trappers, some of whom are reported to take away each season from the 

 north-western parts of the Province furs amounting in value to between one 

 thousand five hundred and two thousand dollars, a very substantial increase of 

 the present fee of $50.00 might be demanded, but for resident trappers the $5.00 

 suggested by Superintendent Tinsley some years ago should be ample. Such a 

 valuable natural resource as the wild fur-bearing animals should, however, be made 

 to contribute a larger return to the Public Treasury than could be obtained from 

 license fees alone, and I beg leave to suggest that this be collected in the form of a 

 royalty on the more valuable skins. The imposition of a royalty, besides affording 

 revenue, should enable the Department to restrict the catch within such limits as 

 experience might show to be safe. 



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