92 



I prefer taking his enumeration as my guide. I ■will 

 presume that within these districts about 480 escape to 

 the nurseries and deposit their ova in safety in the 

 spawning beds — and which number ought to be preserved 

 in the Eestigouche alone. Giving nine-tenths of the 

 spawn to destruction, while in the rivers ; and a further 

 deduction of one-fourth during their migration, we find 

 preserved to our use 360,000 fish, which, at 2s. 6d. each, 

 gives the value of the Salmon fisheries of the Districts of 

 Gaspe and Bonaventure to be the sum of £45,000 per 

 annum,, and which in reality is much less than their 

 value, if we may compare our bays and rivers to those of 

 the Mother Country, — the Tweed alone, as before stated, 

 yielding its 150,000 fish, with a rental of £20,000 per 

 annum. 



As a general rule, the salmon on the South shore are 

 much smaller than those on the north. But very large 

 salmon were formerly taken in the Bestigouche, fish as 

 heavy as 35 to 40 lbs. The average weight of the fish 

 now taken is from 12 to 15 lbs. Sea-trout in abundance 

 are also caught in this district. 



And now, having accomphshed our tour of the north 

 and south shores of the River St. Lawrence, and having, 

 as far as this little volume would permit of, endeavoured 

 to show the wealth that could be produced were the neces- 

 sary protection afforded : it will be well to sum up the 

 value of each, district, and the number of fish which ought 

 to be taken in each. In some of the rivers the artificial 

 propagation would be necessary, and the cost would be 

 very little indeed, but the results would be, immense 

 wealth to the Province. 



