Conservation of Canada's Inland Fisheries 



BY 



J. B. Feii<ding 

 Technical Adviser, Ontario Department of Game and Fisheries 



AS an observer of this country's natural resources it has often 

 struck me, when I have heard conservation preached in connec- 

 tion with resources, that those using the expression do not fully 

 appreciate the full and true meaning of the term, as applied to the 

 economic animal world. 



If we refer to Murray's dictionary we find the term 



Definition of " conservation " defined as " preservation from 

 Conservation . „ „ ... ,. . „ 



destruction, preservation of existmg conditions. 



Neither of these definitions fully expresses the term " conservation " 



as we mean it to be applied in connection with our fisheries of to-day. 



The best definition of the term is "the application of common 



sense, after careful study, to common problems for the common good, 



in order to perpetuate the usefulness of a natural economic product." 



That is the definite interpretation of conservation as I propose to deal 



with it to-day. 



_ ^ The first thing that arises in one's mind when setting 



Importance ^ „ ,. . . 



of Natural out to follow up a policy of conservation, as just 



Balance defined, is that all-important factor, natural balance. 



In the vegetable kingdom the cultivation of an economic product 



does not disturb the balance of nature to any great extent. In the 



animal kingdom, as a rule, this disturbance is the all-important factor 



when taking into consideration the true conservation of any undomes- 



ticated member of it. 



Now we know there are several well-defined natural laws, which 



must be studied by those whose duty it is to advise on the conservation 



of animal life. Prof. Wallace once stated that no unbalanced deficiency 



in the animal kingdom can ever reach any conspicuous magnitude 



without making itself felt at the very first step, through rendering 



existence difficult and extinction almost a certainty. It follows from 



this that no derangement of the natural balance of fish life, in a certain 



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