8 
almost double that of the four Atlantic Provinces. The total 
fisheries expenditure during the five years, for the whole of Canada, 
was $3,757,731 (exclusive of fishing bounties, $789,846), while the 
revenue derived from the same totalled $424,410. It will thus be 
seen that British Columbia’s contribution, $234,512, amounted to 
over 5534 per cent. of the whole revenue. 
FISHERIES COMMISSION. 
It is therefore evident that the development of the British 
Columbia fisheries would insure a very considerable increase in the 
general revenue, and it would seem to devolve upon the Federal 
Government to encourage such expansion. The first step in this 
direction was taken in 1905, when, after many urgent requests 
made by parties interested in the fishing industry, the Governor- 
General in Council appointed a Commission to make an investi- 
gation into the state of the industry on the British Columbia Coast. 
This Commission was appointed in July, 1905, and consisted of 
Professor Edward E. Prince, F.R.S.C., Dominion Commissioner of 
Fisheries, and General Inspector of Fisheries for Canada; Campbell 
Sweeney, Esq., Vancouver; John Cunningham Brown, Esq., New 
Westminster; Richard Hall, Esq., Victoria; Rev. George W. 
Taylor, F.R.S.C., Nanaimo, and John Pease Babcock, Provincial 
Fisheries Commissioner, Victoria. 
Amongst the matters specified for the Commission’s investiga- 
tion were :— 
1. Salmon industry.—Close seasons ; mesh, depth and length of 
nets; limitation of netting in Fraser River and estuary; conditions 
in granting of leases and licences, with special reference to Japanese 
and Chinese exclusion; limitation of amount of gear; areas for 
pound-nets or trap-nets and other nets; limitation of canneries, and 
suggested abolition of canners’ fishing licences. 
2. The offal and dog-fish question, including the use generally 
of fish for the manufacture of oil and fertilisers. 
3. Trout and angling questions.—Close seasons for spawning 
fish ; open seasons for angling, trolling, etc.; restrictions as to legal 
size of fish to be taken. 
4. Sturgeon fishing—Protection and restoration of the 
industry. 
5. Hecate Straits and foreign fishing operations. 
6. Sea fisheries of the north——Halibut industry; herring 
fisheries; abuses re bait, fish offal, etc.; skill or black cod and 
true cod; sardine, anchovy and oolachan, oyster, abalone and crab 
fisheries; best methods of developing sea fisheries; restrictions, 
suggested leases and licences. 
