48 
Shrimps and prawns of good quality are plentiful, but they 
are not much fished for, and little information regarding them can 
be obtained. The habits of these creatures are such as to place 
them generally outside the ordinary range of observation, so that 
fishermen may be scarcely aware of their presence, when an active 
search might disclose them in abundance. At least two species of 
prawns, one of large size, the other smaller, are seen on the local 
markets. The principal fishing ground, so far, has been in the 
neighbourhood of Victoria, and in the southern part of Puget 
Sound. Shrimps and prawns to a value of $6,000 to $7,000 are taken 
annually. 
Beche-de-mer, or trepang, is quite plentiful in the North 
Pacific, but it is not sought as a commercial commodity. Chinese 
and Japanese fishermen collect it in small quantities for their own 
use, but incidentally in their regular business. Beche-de-mer 
(Holothuria edulis) is also known as sea slug, sea cucumber, sea 
pudding. It is highly esteemed for food in China, where it is 
imported in large quantities. The animal is repulsive, resembling a 
big, flat worm, from 6 to 24 inches in length, and is prepared for 
use by boiling and drying over a wood fire, or in the sun. China 
imports beche-de-mer to the value of about $650,000 annually. 
As already stated, there are no lobsters known to be native 
to the Pacific. Several years ago, the Dominion Department of 
Fisheries liberated a car-load of young lobsters in the Gulf of 
Georgia, but they either died from the effects of the journey across 
the continent, or were destroyed by some natural enemy, as nothing 
was ever seen of them. The Department repeated the experiment 
in 1906, but so far the results have not been ascertained, although 
lobsters are reported to have been seen near where they were 
liberated. 
GAME FISH. 
So far the fishes of British Columbia have been treated from an 
economic point of view, but from a sportsman’s standpoint the 
field is not a less interesting one. The whole interior of the 
Province, Island and Mainland, possesses a wonderful system of 
water communication, lakes and rivers. These, as well as the lesser 
streams, are abundantly stocked with fish, principally salmon or 
trout, the several varieties of which have already been enumerated. 
There are also whitefish in the northern waters. While the best 
known and favourite resorts are on Vancouver Island, there is 
no locality where a fisherman may not prosecute with zest this 
time-honoured sport; and even on the sea-coast, during the salmon 
