l899-'00 TRANSACTIONS l8l 



Canada may be referred to in a concluding paragraph : — 



( I . ) Fish of supreme commercial importance only are hatched, 

 hence species, which are chiefly valued for sport only, are ex- 

 cluded. 



(2.) Eggs, the hatching of which is difficult or hazardous, e. g, 

 black bass, maskinonge, sturgeon, etc., are not included. Re- 

 sults, commensurate with the expenditure of public money, are 

 problematical in the case of such species. 



(3.) As far as possible all parent fish are returned alive to the 

 water after spawning. 



(4.) Salmon are impounded in tidal ponds for many months 

 prior to the breeding period in the fall. They cease to feed on 

 entering the mouths of rivers, and the sea water keeps them free 

 from fungus and disease. Lake trout and whitefish, also are 

 kept in pens or pounds for a few days before being artifically 

 spawned. 



(5. ) Fry are distributed gratis on the applications being officially 

 approved, and the government bears the expense, wholly or 

 partially, of shipment and planting. 



(6.) Lastly the fry are all practically shipped in the recently 

 hatched condition (three daj^s to three weeks old). This is unavoid- 

 able when vast quantities, tens of millions, are handled. Reten- 

 tion of the fry would involve great expense and serious loss by 

 death, and all the applications could not be filled. 



It is hardly open to dispute that the planting, year after year 

 for over 30 years, of countless numbers of young iry of valuable 

 economic fishes must have vastly benefited the waters of the 

 Dominion. 



The hatching of cod, mackerel and other marine 

 fishes has not so far been attempted in Canada. The eggs and 

 fry of these fishes are not so favourable for the methods of 

 artificial culture, and the vast numbers produced by each spawn- 

 ing female (a single cod shedding 9 to 10 millions of eggs each 

 season), the extremely delicate pelagic character of the eggs, and 

 the futility of handling successfully the fry, are the reasons which 



