TENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 



Department of Game and Fisheries of 



Ontario 



To the Honourable F. G. Macdiaemid, 



Minister of Public Worhs and Highways. 



SiE, — I have the honour to submit for your consideration the Tenth Annual 

 Report of the Department of Game and Fisheries, which is for the fiscal year ended 

 October 31st, 1916. 



The catch of fish this year was quite satisfactory even if it did not reach the 

 enormous amount caught the year before. The herring catch was indeed good and 

 as the Great Lakes of Ontario are the only waters in Canada where fresh water 

 herring can be procured, great care should be exercised in their preservation. . Ee- 

 quests are being continually made to reduce the size of mesh. This, I think, would 

 be a great mistake and would, in the near future, lead to the practical extermination 

 of this valuable food fish. Hatcheries should also be established to propagate this 

 species for they apparently thrive when given a chance in waters suitable for their 

 existence. The whitefish and salmon trout seem to be on the increase, no doubt 

 owing to the large quantities of spawn deposited each year from the hatcheries. It 

 will be interesting to watch the result of the abolishing of the close seasons for these 

 species. The Department feels discouraged at times from the lack of co-operation 

 with a certain number of the fishermen, who seem bent upon catching fish by any 

 means if allowed, regardless of the consequences, and since the abolishing of the 

 close season they are constantly applying for licenses to set nets in waters that are 

 well known to have shoals where these fish spawn. 



The demand for fish by the })ublic has increased considerably owing to the high 

 cost of meat, and there should be a means of lessening the expenses of living. The 

 residents of Ontario have not been educated to the use of this food, and strange to 

 say that in many places, villages and towns inland, only a few miles from" some 

 of our principal fishing ports, will have several butcher shops and the residents 

 never see a fresh fish from the beginning to the end of the year save those caught 

 by hook and line in the nearby streams. 



PnovixciAL Hatcheries. 



The erection of a hatchery begun at ?^orniandale last year was iinavoidably 

 delayed but will be completed this season and will be most efficiently equipped for 

 the purpose of hatching whitefish and herring. 



The hatchery at Mount Pleasant where the raising of bass and speckled trout 

 is carried on for restocking the inland lakes and streams was not so successful this 

 year owing to the heavy rains in the spring which caused turbid waters resulting in 

 a consideral)le loss to the s})eckled trout fry and delay in procuring the parent bass 

 for the bass ponds, notwithstanding these difficulties the result of the hatch was 

 very satisfactory and the superintendent of this hatchery should be commended for 

 overcoming difficulties that he before never had to contend with. 



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