IRRIGATION CANALS AS AN AID TO FISHERIES 

 DEVELOPMENT IN THE WEST. 



By Prof. E. E. Prince, M. A., LL. D., D. Sc, F. R. S. C. 

 Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, Ottawa, Canada 



It has frequently been said that irrigation schemes on a 

 large scale in western sections of the United States and Canada, 

 while they may be the hope of Agriculture, are the grim despair 

 of the Fisheries. "You cannot hope to have an abundant supply 

 of fish in the same areas as you have irrigation reservoirs and 

 canals," is the assertion of many well-informed people. That 

 it is a grave question for our population in the Western States 

 and Canadian Provinces cannot be disputed. A well-known 

 Canadian railroad official, frankly declared ten or twelve years 

 ago before a Fishery Commission, of which the Canadian Gov- 

 ernment had appointed me Chairman : "You cannot have irriga- 

 tion and fish." It is because I hold the opposite opinion that I 

 have brought the subject to attention at this time. 



After viewing the matter from a variety of standpoints, I 

 can see no insurmountable difficulty in providing a supply of 

 fish for the people's food, and even a supply of certain game fish, 

 if the conditions are observed, which are set forth in this paper. 

 During my visit to Australia in 1914, when I paid special atten- 

 tion to the fisheries there, I found vast irrigation schemes on foot 

 which involved the erection of huge dams, and extensive retain- 

 ing reservoirs, but the conserving of the fish had never been 

 ignored, and I may point out that the famous "Murray Cod," 

 one of the most delicate and delicious of food-fishes, was the 

 principal species in the South Australian waters where irriga- 

 tion plans on an immense scale were in progress. Of course, 

 like most great rivers in Australia, the Murray River, though 

 it is 1,200 miles long, dries up to a large extent, forming a chain 

 of lakes 40 to 50 feet deep ; yet the Murray Cod, really a Serra- 

 noid, has continued to abound, the periodical droughts not hav- 

 ing killed off the supply. There are always ample areas of water 

 sufficiently deep remaining to furnish favorable conditions for 

 the fish until normal conditions return with the wet season. 



IRRIGATION SECURES PERMANENT RESERVOIRS. 



The object of irrigation schemes is to prevent total drought 



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