58 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



I shall close by reference to one or two other matters. 

 The Abalone I think that there is quite an opening in the utilization 

 or ar-s e ^^ shell-fish. There are many shell-fish which are not 



used on the British Columbia coast. For instance, there is the abalone 

 or ear-shell. The dried flesh of this creature is in great demand 

 amongst the Chinese and is said to sell at about $300 per ton. An 

 industry has been started but it has not been organized properly and 

 the shells have not been utilized. London alone imports about one 

 hundred tons per annum of those shells from Japan, paying, I under- 

 stand, $50 per ton, and we could send them from British Columbia 

 just as well. 



_ , There are nearly twenty different kinds of shell- 



Other „ . . . , ... , , ^ ^. J 



Unutilized fish which are not utilized at the present time and 



Shell'fish which could be readily turned to account. Japan, for 



instance, has used razor-shell clams for export to China in a boiled 



and dried condition. Two or three shell-fish like the oyster, clam and 



pecten or scallop are used, but shell-fish like the mussel and periwinkle 



have not been used to any great extent, although periwinkles are in 



great demand in large cities and one firm in Digby has been sending 



car shipments of them to Chicago and realizing a very good price. 



In the fresh waters we have quite a number of shells. 

 Pearls from Many of our rivers produce large fresh-water clams 

 Fresh-water which are of great value for button manufacture. In 

 * " ^ the Grand river 150 tons have been obtained in a year 



by the fishermen. Canada could also produce a large amount of pearls. 

 A great number of our streams abound in pearl-mussels. American 

 visitors in. Cape Breton and Labrador have found extremely valuable 

 pearls by systematic fishing for fresh-water pearl-mussels. I know of 

 one very excellent pearl, of a lovely pink colour, which was obtained 

 in Cape Breton. The fisherman received $10 but, later, $250 was paid 

 for it in New York. There is one stream in British Columbia which 

 is called Pearl-mussel river (Lakelse) on account of the large number 

 of these shell-fish which it contains. It abounds with mussels of a 

 pearly character and I have no doubt these could be turned to economic 

 account. 



Crayfish or ^ ^^^^ ^^^° found, and I have mentioned it in official 



Fresh-water reports, that our crayfish in the fresh-water streams 

 Lobster should be more utilized. The Ottawa, Rideau and most 



of the interior streams abound in the fresh-water lobster, for which a 

 market could be found in some of the large cities in the United States. 

 The ecrevisse in France is an extreme delicacy and in London and New 

 York it is regarded as a scarce but valuable addition to the menu. 



