13 



stated that requests were made by 

 American hatcheries on Lake Superior 

 for eggs, and he wanted to know how it 

 occurred that if their fisheries were not 

 depleted they came to the Canadian side 

 for their fish eggs. In the waters of Lake 

 Superior it is not possible to keep fish in 

 pens, which would necessarily be broken 

 up, as can be done at Sandwich, and that 

 is the reason and the only reason why they 

 come and make requisition on our depart- 

 HK.'nt for fish eggs. There is no scarcity of 

 , fish eggs in the United States. Here is a 

 statement bearing on this subject : 



Put-Iu-Bay, 15th May.— The hatch at the fisli 

 hatchery at this place beats the world's record in 

 the number of eggs taken in one season at one 

 station. During the year which wiil end with 

 June, there have been talcen at this station 115,- 

 000,000 whiteflsh eggs, 11,000,000 ciscoes, or lake 

 herring ; 404,000,000 pike-perch, or wall-eyed 

 pike, besides lake trout, grass pike, yellow perch 

 and other varieties. Besides the eggs and fry 

 shipped away, 30,400,000 whiteflsh, IJ, 000,000 cis- 

 coes and 200,000,000 nike-perch fry have been 

 turned into the waters of Lake Erie. 



There is no scarcity of fish eggs on the 

 other side, as the hon. gentleman imagines. 

 They have enormous quantities of them, 

 and instead of the fisheries being depleted, 

 as the hon. Minister endeavoured to show 

 from extracts he read, I can read other 

 extracts to show the reverse, and that in 

 some sections of the American waters there 

 lias been a great increase in the fisheries 

 generally, and ia the whiteflsh particularly. 

 I read from the commissioners' report of the 

 United States Commission of Fish and 

 Fisheries for 1892, as follows :— 



Whiteflsh is the second important flsh in Lake 

 Huron. It is especially prominent in the pound- 

 net fishery of that part of the lake north of Sagi- 

 naw Bay and in the gill-net fishery from Alpena. 

 The average weight of the whitefish ib about 2 

 pounds. 



Everywhere in this lake the effects of whiteflsh 

 propagation are manifested and appreciated by 

 the fishermen and fish-dealers. While the out- 

 put in the year covered by this inquiry was some- 

 what less than In 1885, the increase in the past 

 few years has been marked. A prominent feature 

 of the fishery for this fish was the unprecedented- 

 ly large run in many places of small fish of a 

 size that had not been observed in abundance for 

 many years. 



Again : 



Along the shore, between St. Ignaf^r and De- 

 tour, an increase in the abundance of whitefish, 

 as compared with a number of precceding years, 

 was reported, the increase being especially 

 marked in Les Cheueaux and Pretence Bay. Trout 

 and some other fish appear to be diminishing in 

 number. One reason assigned by Mr. Isaac Gou- 

 dreau. Mr. Charles Goudreau and other promin- 

 ent fishermen for the increase of whitefish in the 

 inshore waters and among the islands Is, tliat 

 the fish have been driven from their regular re- 

 sorts in the lake by the large accumulations on 

 the favourite grounds of saw-dust and other re- 

 fuse from a mill at St. Ignace. 



The principal fishermen of this section think 

 there will be no difficulty in keeping up the sup- 



ply of whiteflsh, If liberal consfguments of fry 



are planted annually, and the size of the mesh In 



; the cribs of the pound-net is regulated so as to 



permit the escape of Immature flsh. In the vIcIti- 



ity of St. Ignace, the fishermen want also a law 



to prohibit the pollution of the lake, either by 



' saw-dust or other refuse, and some favour a close 



season on all kinds of fishing after 1st November 



for a period of years, in order to give trout and 



I other fish whose abundance has decreased, a bet- 



; ter opportunity to multiply. 



In the fisheries of the southern siv^e of the 

 Strait of Mackinac, and the adjacent western 

 shore of Lake Huron, whiteflsh constitute fully 

 j nine-tenths of the catch, the remaining species 

 j consisting of trout, pike, perch, herring and stur- 

 j geon. During the last two years the number of 

 whiteflsh in the flsheries could be carried to Mac- 

 1 kinac city have been steadily Increasing. 

 I The only dealer at Mackinac city who has 

 \ bought and handled flsh caught in that vicinity 

 I during the past six years, says that it has been 

 ; no uncommon thing in the last two years to take 

 i 2,500 pounds of whiteflsh from one small pound- 

 ! net in one night's fishing, while In previous 

 j years, if half that quantity was taken under simi- 

 i lar circumstances, it was considered a big catch ; 

 j he is satisfied that the fish now being caught 

 j were planted in that vicinity by the United States 



and Michigan Fish Commission. 

 I In the vicinity of Cheboygan while a great 

 many trout are caught, whitefish is the principal 

 specie. Every fisherman in this region has com- 

 mented on the very large increase in the number 

 of whitefish caught during the past two years. 

 Mr. Mayaard Corbitt, of the fishing firm of Cor- 

 bitt & Duffy, stated that he had fished in that 

 vicinity for twenty-five years, and up to two or 

 three years ago the whitefish were becoming 

 scarcer each season, but during the past three 

 years they have undergone a marked increase in 

 abundance. 



I could read many other extracts. It is very 

 easy for the hon. Minister to read sta'-e- 

 ments regarding the depletion of fishe ies 

 in certain sections ; I could read about he 

 depletion in other sections. That is not the 

 question. The question is simply this : has 

 the policy of the department in preventing 

 our people from taking a reasonable share 

 of fish in Lake Erie, in preventing them 

 prosecuting the fishery industry in that and 

 other lakes, been a good policy ? I say 

 the only answer that can be given to the 

 question is to show that the Canadian 

 fisheries have increase<l, and that we in 

 Canada have a quantity equal to the great 

 excess caught by the American fishermen. 

 I regret that I have been compelled to de- 

 tain the House so long, but this is a ques- 

 tion of very great importance, one involv- 

 ing a very large sum of money, one that 

 gives employment to a vast number of 

 American people, and if a proper policy had 

 been pursued in Canada our fisheries would 

 have contributed very largely to increasing 

 the wealth o^ the province of Ontario. 



Mr. McGregor. I do not Intend to take 

 up the time of the House very long in speak- 

 ing on this subject. The hon. member for 

 South Essex (Mr. Allan) has gone over the 

 points very clearly and has shown th^ House 

 the exact position we occupy as compared 



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