8 



the policy of Mr. Mackenzie's Government. 

 There might be some justification for a 

 Grovernment in power 20 or 25 years ago 

 to try and preserve our fisheries by making 

 certain regulations— altliough I believe the 

 regulations we have in force are entirely 

 too severe— and to keep these regulations in 

 force expecting to make some arrangement 

 with the American people. But every year 

 this Government has utterly failed to do 

 that, and the American people believe that 

 the policy pursued by the Canadian Govern- 

 ment is an erron<'Ous and expensive policy. 

 So long ago as 21st March, 1873. T find the 

 following in the American Commissioner's 

 Report :— 



The Canadian laws are sweeping and stringent 

 in character. By exacting license fees from the 

 fishermen, they control the extent of fishing In 

 all localities, and limit the number of nets to each 

 mile of the shore in accordance with the judg- 

 ment of the fishery officers. Their system of 

 lawu and policing the whole extent of shores is 

 an expensive and cumbersome method of protect- 

 ing the fishes, amd it is altogether probable that 

 the large amount of money, |20,195 in the year 

 1871, used for this purpose, would increase the 

 products of their fisheries adapted to artificial 

 culture. 



Again : 



Prohibiting fishing at certain seasons of the 

 year has been an ordinary method of legislation 

 in protecting the fish, and has proved to be of 

 great advantage in streams aid inland waters. 

 The great lakes, in the particular of fishing, as- 

 sume very much the character of the sea, and the 

 same class of legislation, benefiting streams and 

 inland waters, is not required for them. 



The ivmerican people are pursuing their 

 own policy from year to year and they 

 refuse to enter Into reciprocal regulation 

 arrangements with Canada in reference to 

 the lake fisheries. Every year they have 

 been prosecuting the fisheries without limit, 

 and in Lake Erie catching eight fish to our 

 one. Notwithstanding what the Minister 

 says the catch is still maintained. 



The hon. gentleman talks about failui-es, 

 but I have never heard of them. I knew 

 of the failure of a large fishing firm in the 

 section of the country of which he spoke, 

 but it was owing to their connection with 

 the building of a large summer hotel at 

 Put-In-Bay Island. The examination of the 

 United States census returns relating to the 

 profits Oif the American fishermen is a com- 

 plete answer to the hon. gentleman's state- 

 ment. It is shown there that the American 

 fishermen are all making money, and that it 

 Las been a prosperous business. It is no 

 argument to say that these fishermen are 

 over crowded in Lake Erie. They have 700 

 miles of netting as the New York " Sun " 

 recently stated, on the American side of 

 Lake Erie, while on our side in the county 

 of Essex, our fishermen there with equal 

 advantages and equal facilities could catch 

 the same quantity of fish, have only about 

 sixty pound-nets. 



We catcli in the neighbourhood of .$100,- 

 000 worth of fish annually, according to 

 tlie values given by the Department of 

 Marine and Fisheries, while on the American 

 side the fishermen catch the enormous 

 amount of $2,000,000 worth. Right opposite 

 the county o^ Essex, the city of Sandusky, 

 which is the largest fresh water fish market 

 in the world, is carrying on an enormous 

 business. This has been going on not merely 

 for twenty or thirty years, but has been 

 carried on since 1855, which was about the 

 time pound-nets were introduced. This 

 trade was then commenced on a pretty ex- 

 tensive scale, and has been carried on by 

 the Americans from year to year until *hey 

 have so much fishing apparatus that it would 

 probably be imiwssible for them to extend 

 their business, while we on our side of the 

 lake have been looking quietly on. 



Now, Sir, the hon. gentleman has been very 

 much disturbed at times about the attacks 

 that have been made by the fishermen and 

 by the people of the country upon the policy 

 of the department, and he has sent his pro- 

 fessors to the Detroit River and to the west- 

 ern end of Lake Erie to make special re- 

 ports upon this subject, A year ago. Pro- 

 fessor Prince, who had arrived in this coun- 

 try, I believe, in April, visited the Detroit 

 River, and when he returned to Ottawa 

 he wrote a special report justifying the posi- 

 tion the department had taken. Speaking 

 of close seasons. Professor Prince says : 



That the enforcement of close seasons and 

 other protective regulations for whitefish on the 

 Canadian side of the great lakes and border 

 waters should have caused some discontent 

 amongst Canaaian fishermen is not surprising. 

 When the dividing waters are so narrow as in 

 the Detroit River, St. Clair Lake and river, such 

 dissatisfaction is accentuated. The United States 

 fishermen carry on their operations under no re- 

 strictions, and at all available seasons. To our 

 own fishermen, under whose eyes the American 

 fishermen pursue the industry, the rigid enforce- 

 ment or a close season and other regulations is 

 peculiarly irritating. But any supposed advan- 

 tages enjoyed by the United States fishermen are 

 found, on strict inquiry, to be baseless, and on 

 the other hand, the alleged grievances on the 

 Canadian side in these waters have no better 

 ground. As a matter of fact, the United States 

 policy has proved most injurious to their own 

 fishermen's interests and is wholly and emphati- 

 cally disapproved by the leading men engaged in 

 the fishing industry in Detroit and other import- 

 ant centres. 



Detroit, it may be mentioned, has one of the 

 greatest fish-markets on the continent, and the 

 view that prevails there is entirely in favour of 

 the Canadian policy. It is not the case that the 

 absence of restrictions on the American side has 

 been detrimental to our fishermen, or that United 

 States fishermen are reaping benefits of which 

 Canadian fishermen are deprived. Careful in- 

 quiries on the spot have abundantly shown that. 



Any alteration in the existing close season 

 would indeed be an injury to the Canadian fisher- 

 men and would bring serious results, leading 

 rapidly to the total destruction of the whitefish 

 fishery. 



This is demonstrated by the following facts : — 



