The Canadian Spohtsmah aud N/TUfjALisT. 



No. 9. 



MONTREAL, SEPTEMBER 15th, 1881. 



Vol. I. 



WILL THE LOBSTER FISHERY FAIL? 

 The demand for this excellent article of hu- 

 man food is increasing yearly, and the system 

 of canning the crustacean is as perfect as it 

 possibly can be. The question may, however, 

 be asked, — Will the thousands that are cap- 

 tured every year, cause a scarcity ? Will it 

 ultimately produce a failure in the business? 

 Our opinion is that the unlimited license given 

 to parties to net salmon in estuaries and inside 

 large rivers, notably the Natashquan, is to a 

 great extent, the cause of the late scarcity of 

 the fish in the Lower St. Lawrence. We are told 

 that a French steamer made two trips from 

 France to the North coast of the Lower St. 

 Lawrence for Salmon this season. They 

 ottered and paid ten cents per pound, which is 

 a fair price at risk. There are no objections to 

 this trade, but we decidedly put down our foot 

 and say with indignation, that the Government 

 who aids and abets such wholesale slaughter has 

 yet a heavy penalty to pay to her people. The 

 law has been violated for filthy lucre. We 

 trust this will not occur again. If similar 

 netting is carried on in other large maritime 

 rivers, the result will certainly continue to de- 

 crease the number of salmon. We have learned 

 from one of the party who fished the Natash- 

 quan this season, that with few exceptions, all 

 salmon taken with the fly had marks of a strug- 

 gle in nets which were placed inside the 

 estuary in the river. This is not giving fair- 

 play to fish or lessees, the latter coming annually 

 from England to enjoy the sport. Those who 

 pay well for river surface fishing, have a right 

 to demand the Fishery Department to keep the 

 entrance clear, and we have positive proof that 

 Mr. Jervois, the lessee of the Natashquan, has 

 not been fairly treated by the Department, 

 especially this year. The Federal Government 

 make the sporting resources of the Dominion 

 known to Europeans by distributing pamphlets 



by agents throughout the nations, and a man 

 of means induced to lease a Canadian river for 

 the space of a month, afterward* thai 



the fish expected to run fresh from the sea in- 

 stead of being full of vigor are lying n<;k at the 

 bottom of a pool. This ie anything bul en* 

 couraging to sportsmen, particularly Briti.-h 

 Now, regarding the lobster it i.< ditierent 

 in its mode of life from a fish. The object of 

 proprietors of canning houses should th< ■:• 

 be to prevent the destruction of female lobe 

 When they are carrying their ova they should 

 not be destroyed, but allowed to escape. [| is 

 the only safe mode by which the species may 

 be kept increasing. Besides the young loh-t<-r 

 has so many enemies that we may .-aft! 

 thousands are destroyed after the crustacean 

 becomes the size of our river crawfish. It is a 

 glaring fact that this important lobster business 

 is not properly recorded. We have no accurate 

 figures as to the number taken in the Domin- 

 ion for canning, nor any descriptive account 

 of the establishments for that purpose. Tom- 

 mycods and eels are noticed; fishes which are 

 of little commercial value outside the Province 

 of Quebec, Salmon canning is also in the same 

 category as the lobster. Surely those two 

 branches of Canadian industry should have 

 some recognition among our fishing resources. 

 Of course we make this statement from a 

 Fishery report given in our last number. 

 There may be Reports giving the amount of 

 salmon and lobster collected iu the Lower St. 

 Lawrence for canning purposes, but they were 

 not sent to us, and we therefore place the 

 subject before our readers in order to show how 

 this industry stands. The bays of Anticosti 

 abound with lobsters, and although this fact 

 has been known for many years, no attempt 

 has been made to establish a canning-house on 

 the Island. It occurs to us that there is a lack 

 of keen venture among the Canadian people in 



