of ike Fishery Board for Scotland. 



493 



In the report of the Deputy-Minister of Fisheries,* it is stated that the 

 gross expenditure of the department for all services, except civil govern- 

 ment, amounted for the fiscal year to 374,202 dollars from appropriations 

 of 428,420 dollars, leaving a surplus of 54,217 dollars. The revenue of 

 the department from licences, &c, was 70,794 dollars. Of the expendi- 

 ture, 71,306 dollars were spent on 4 fisheries,' 39,496 on fish-breeding, 

 83,050 on fisheries protection service, 166,967 on fishing bounties, and 

 13,382 on miscellaneous objects. It is reported that the Fisheries Intelli- 

 gence Bureau has greatly extended its operations. Fifty-two stations 

 now send daily reports to Halifax, where, after compilation, the informa- 

 tion is telegraphed to the principal business centres and fishing stations in 

 the maritime provinces. In the fisheries protection service, eight steam- 

 vessels and two sailing-vessels are employed. The total amount spent in 

 1891 in this department was 102,601 dollars, part of which falls against 

 another department. 



It is stated that, owing to the injurious results of fishing with the 

 purse-seine, the department had no option but to conclude tha>t the pre- 

 servation of the valuable mackerel and herring fisheries of the Atlantic 

 coast demanded its general prohibition. Without joint action on the part 

 of the Governments of the United States and France, such a prohibition, 

 the report goes on to say, cannot attain all that is desired so long as its 

 use is continued by the fishermen of other nations. The United States 

 Government have indeed prohibited the landing of mackerel taken by 

 purse-seines on any part of their coast before 1st June in each year; but 

 this does not afford any relief in Canadian waters beyond the territorial 

 limits. Pending international agreement, the Canadian Parliament have 

 by statute prohibited this mode of fishing in Canadian waters, under a 

 penalty for each offence of between 50 and 500 dollars, together with con- 

 fiscation of the vessel, boat, and apparatus used. Owing to disputes 

 among the seine fishermen in Halifax county, the Government have 

 applied the system so successfully made use of in other parts of the 

 Dominion, namely, by prohibiting this mode of fishing within certain 

 areas without a special licence from the Department of Fisheries, which is 

 only granted on certain specified conditions, and on payment of the 

 nominal sum of 50 cents. 



Interesting information is given as to the lobster fisheries. Ten years 

 ago, it is stated, two or three lobsters were sufficient to fill a one pound 

 can ; now it takes six or seven, or more, and the opinion is strongly 

 expressed that the fishery will not be able to stand the drain upon it 

 much longer. In 1890 the total number of lobsters preserved in cans or 

 sold alive amounted to 11,566,732 pounds in weight, and were valued at 

 1,648,344 dollars. The estimated value of the lobster factories and traps 

 is 822,903 dollars. The Minister of Fisheries has drafted a series of 

 regulations, which may be summarised thus: — (1) No one to fish for, 

 catch, or preserve lobsters without a licence from the Minister ; (2) No 

 trap, boat, &c,, shall be used for taking lobsters without written applica- 

 tion, specifying the number and particulars; (3) All boats, traps, &c, to 

 have the owner's name or mark on them, and recorded in the licence ; (4) 

 A fee of 1 cent to be levied on each trap ; (5) Fixing close times at dif- 

 ferent parts of the coast (July to December) ; (6) Prohibiting the catching 

 or possession of any berried or soft-shelled lobsters, or lobsters under 9 

 inches in length, measured from the head to the tail. An important 

 exception is made in the case of berried females, which may be delivered 

 at a cannery, provided the owner or manager operates, to the satisfaction 

 of the Minister, incubators or boxes for the hatching out of the eggs 



* Annual Report of the Department of Fisheries of the Dominion of Canada, 1891. 

 Ottawa, 1892. 



