18 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



Work of the ^ might say in conclusion that I did not know exactly 

 Conservation what was required. I thought that to speak on any 

 Commission commercial problem might not interest the Commis- 

 sion, as you are more interested, to my mind, in the conservation and, 

 where the source has been affected, in the replenishment of supplies. 

 I am pleased to give any publicity that I have at my command to the 

 problems of the fishing industry, which I have very closely at heart. 

 I believe that the Conservation Commission, by promoting the propa- 

 gation of fish through the hatcheries in our Great lakes, as well as in 

 its work in connection with the lobster and salmon fisheries, is doing 

 a great work. It is a matter of fact that, in some of our western lakes 

 that were considered practically depleted a few years ago, there is now 

 a good supply of fish, and it is due solely to the hatcheries the Govern- 

 ment established, which have not only taken care of the shortage but 

 have rather increased the quantities in those lakes. 



Prof. Prince: I, of course, take^an intense interest in the subject 

 which Mr. Byrne has brought before us, and desire to congratulate 

 himi on the very succinct and condensed manner in which he dealt 

 with a very large subject and the orderly way his points were taken 

 up. We all know that he has done herculean work on the Fisheries 

 Association, which was started not very long ago, and great things are 

 likely to follow from the work of that organization. What our fish- 

 eries needed, both on the seacoast and in the interior, was a better 

 understanding amongst those engaged in the industry, better methods 

 of cooperating with the Government and, indeed, a reorganization of 

 the methods of handling this great industry. 



I do not intend going over very many of the points Mr. Byrne has 

 brought before us, because I think they, in a sense, explain them- 

 selves, and some of them are points which I myself have urged, very 

 much like a voice crying in the wilderness, for many years. One point 

 struck me as particularly good, namely, that all methods of transpor- 

 tation and supply of fish will not improve the situation unless the 

 fish are handled properly in the first instance. You cannot make a 

 good fish out of a bad fish. If the fish is not properly handled in the 

 first instance — and there is no commercial commodity which has been 

 so badly treated in the first stages — you cannot place it in the market 

 in proper condition. Fishermen, I regret to say, are prone to ill-use 

 the product which they draw from the sea; in fact, they seem to de- 

 light in knocking the fish about and jumping on them in a manner that 

 no other product could stand. I have been shocked to see the way fresh 



