4 



MARINE AND FISHERIES 



1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 



Ellis, Mr. E. Goff Penny, M.?., Professors F. D. Adams, D. P. Penhallow, A. B. Mac- 

 allum, E. W. MacBride, John Macoun, and Edward E. Prince. The committee appointed 

 by the British Association presented the petition to the Hon. the Minister, supporting 

 it by remarks emphasizing the more salient points. A very strong case was made out 

 in the speeches of the various members of the deputation in favour of a Government 

 Biological Station, and at the conclusion of the interview, Sir Louis Davies expressed 

 his pleasure and gratification at meeting the deputation, and having had presented to 

 him the information regarding marine and fisheries investigations which had been given 

 by the various speakers. As a result the sum of $15,000.00 was placed in the estimates 

 and passed by Parliament, $5,000.00 being for the building and equipment, and a sum 

 of $2,000.00 to be paid annually for the five years 1898-99 to 1903-04 to carry on the 

 scientific work of the station. 



Reference may here be appropriately made to some of the more important consider- 

 ations urged by the delegation. The immense value and importance of the Canadian 

 fishing interests were adverted to, and stress was laid upon the inadequacy of existing 

 knowledge with respect to the nature and sources of the sustenance of marketable fishes 

 and of oysters, lobsters, &c., as well as the distribution, migrations isnd natural history 

 of marine animals in Canadian waters. The necessity of exact scientific investigations 

 into such questions was urged, and it was shown that Canada was the only civilized 

 country in which no Marine Biological Station had been established. Great benefit 

 would be derived by the Government, it was pointed out, from co-operation with the 

 different universities and scientific bodies in the Dominion in its administration of fish- 

 ing interests and in deciding upon methods of fish-preservation by the utilization of 

 reliable technical information obtained by means of such a Biological Station. The 

 Station would prove of incalculable service to our universities, not only in furnishing 

 them material in Canada which has now to be obtained largely from foreign sources, but 

 in adding to the material thus obtained, accurate scientific knowledge of fishes and of 

 the marine life generally which characterizes our northern waters, and differs from the 

 marine fauna and flora found in the vicinity of the Biological Stations now at work on 

 the shores of the United States. The results obtained by a Canadian station could be 

 compared with corresponding results in the waters off the British Islands, where valuable 

 biological investigations have been conducted for a considerable period. Mutual benefits 

 would, it was anticipated, result which would be of value to the Imperial authorities 

 and the Universities of Britain as well as to our own Government and the Universities 

 of the Dominion. Finally the delegation suggested that if Government aid were 

 granted, the responsibility for the administration of the Station might appropriately be 

 assumed by the committee appointed by the various Universities and Scientific Institu- 

 tions, with a representative from the Department of Marine and Fisheries. 



The representative committee referred to, which is responsible for all arrangements 

 and expenditures and the administration of the work of the Biological Station, includes 

 delegates from all the principal seats of learning in the Dominion. 



The Canadian committee appointed by the British Association met in March in 

 the Botanical laboratory of McGill University, Montreal, at the kind suggestion of 

 Professor Penhallow, and the details of the scheme were discussed, the main features of 

 the Station and its proposed work decided upon, and a Board of Management being 

 appointed, consisting of : — Professor D. P. Penhallow, McGill University, Montreal, 

 Secretary ; Professor R. Ramsay Wright, Toronto University, Toronto ; Professor L. 

 H. Bailey, University, Fredericton, N.B. ; Professor A. P. Knight, Queen's University, 

 Kingston, Ontario; Reverend V. A. Huard, Laval University, Chicoutimi, P.Q. ; Dr. 

 A. PL MacKay, Dalhousie University, Superintendent of Education, Halifax, N.S. 



I, as Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, was chosen as Director of the Station, 

 and the names of Professor A. B. Macallum, Toronto University, and Professor E. W. 

 MacBride, McGill University, were subsequently added to the Board. 



After finally reporting to the British Association at its meeting in Bristol, in 1898, 

 upon the successful issue of its work and the selection of the Board of Management, the 

 committee dissolved. . 



