July 3, 1909 ] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
17 
Forteau River of Southern Labrador. 
Forteau River falls into Forteau Bay and that 
body of water lies on the coast of Labrador to 
the north of the line that divides the great penin- 
' sula into two distinct parts—Canadian and New¬ 
foundland Labrador. 
As most anglers know, the Government of the 
Dominion of Canada exercises complete control 
over those rivers which are generally spoken of 
as salmon rivers, and each year derives a large 
income from leasing such streams, whereas the 
rivers that come under the regime of the New¬ 
foundland Government are free and open to all 
sportsmen. 
Forteau River is one of these, and by its ac- 
i cessibility and limited amount of fishing waters 
commends itself to anglers who are willing to 
go so far in search of their favorite sport. The 
stream is very easy to reach and two fishermen 
I who are not afraid to work can practically con¬ 
trol all the best water. 
The coastal boat of the Reid-Newfoundland 
nature has so arranged things that the angler 
can begin fishing when once fairly in the river, 
a condition that does not exist on all streams. 
There is a small fishing hamlet at Forteau Bay, 
but the visitor must bring his men and boats 
with him, the men of Forteau being essentially 
salt water fishermen, having neither time, knowl¬ 
edge nor inclination to assist the salmon fisher¬ 
man. At the very mouth of the river will be 
found existing a condition of affairs that the 
Newfoundland Government seems powerless to 
stop, and that is, illegal netting. As long as 
man can remember, cod fishing has been the 
great source of livelihood to the natives of New¬ 
foundland, and nearly every little bay or cove 
has its small settlement of men and women who 
eke out a precarious living with cod traps, lob¬ 
ster pots and salmon nets. The cod are the 
principal source of revenue, but salmon are not 
scorned, so in addition to the seines in the bays 
and along the shores these fisher folks have a 
salmon net in the mouth of nearly every river. 
A number of years ago the Bureau of Fish- 
content, but the netters at these fishing villages 
are a law unto themselves. Nets are thrown 
across a river 500 or 600 yards from its mouth, 
the tideway is completely blocked and in many 
cases the mesh is only two or three inches in 
diameter instead of four. 
As far as the position of the nets in the river 
go, the law 1 is rather obscure, for it is hard in 
any tidal stream to say what constitutes the 
actual mouth and where the point of 300 yards 
from the mouth shall be located. In Forteau 
River, for instance, the rise and fall of the tide 
makes all the difference in the world as to the 
location of the river’s mouth. At high water 
the so-called mouth is nothing but a vast pond 
studded with projecting boulders; at low tide 
there is a clear and well defined stream flanked 
by low stony flats, and directly across this main 
channel are the nets of Forteau well within 
the legal limit at one water, beyond it at another. 
This is the condition that confronts the salmon 
angler when he arrives at Forteau. There is 
only one thing to do and that is to interview the 
st. anne’s bay and seven miles of the headland. 
the sandbar, mentioned by Mr. Ross, is about a mile long and the depth of water in the channel is thirty feet at low tide. 
company leaves Bay of Islands on the west coast 
of Newfoundland every Wednesday evening dur¬ 
ing the summer, and after calling at a dozen 
points along that shore crosses the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence just to the south of the straits of 
Belle Isle and reaches Forteau Bay Saturday 
morning. The tourist or angler will find the 
captain of the “Home” a very pleasant and cour¬ 
teous official, who will try in every way to fur- 
rush the traveler with reliable information about 
he salmon catch along the coast or the presence 
H other fishermen on the various rivers. 
As the sportsman is dependent upon this 
'learner for his means of return to Newfound- 
and, it is well to have a clear understanding 
with the captain as to the itinerary of the 
Home and its probable position on certain 
lays. This is necessary, as the angler may wish 
o leave one river and seek another at a 
noment’s notice, in which case the “Home” is 
ndispensable. I have been a passenger on this 
mall vessel many times and have found its cap- 
ain and crew uniformly obliging and desirous 
>f aiding the stranger in every way. 
Once safely off the “Home” with his guides 
nd light river boats or skiffs, it is an easy row 
'f three miles to the mouth of the river, and 
eries of the Newfoundland Government began 
to realize that the salmon streams were a great 
attraction to visitors fond of angling and that 
if the salmon were protected when once they 
reached the rivers in the early summer, the re¬ 
sult would be an increase every year both in the 
number of salmon and the number of visiting 
anglers, and hence considerable money spent in 
the island. Accordingly, stringent laws were 
passed for the benefit of both fish and fisher¬ 
man, and if these laws were executed and lived 
up to, the rivers of Newfoundland and Labrador 
would be a joy to anglers; but unfortunately the 
well intentioned laws are not carried out. The 
fishermen at the mouths of these rivers have 
been netting for generations, and though St. 
John may make laws, Forteau and a hundred 
other points will not observe them unless com¬ 
pelled by force. The present law relating to 
the placing of salmon nets in rivers is to the 
effect that no net shall he placed in a river more 
than 300 yards from the mouth, it shall not ex¬ 
tend more than half way across the stream and 
the mesh shall not be less than four inches in 
diameter. 
This law is fair and just to both parties, and 
if observed the fair-minded angler would be 
fisher folk and have the nets taken up either by 
eloquence aided by a little gold or a determined 
threat to report the matter, not to the authori¬ 
ties at St. John’s, but to the commander of the 
British man-o’-war stationed in Newfoundland 
waters. 
This threat will generally be efficacious, for 
though the fishermen along the coast have no 
respect whatever for the St. John’s authorities 
nor for the so-called fish wardens who are sup¬ 
posed to supervise the rivers, they have a whole¬ 
some respect for a British cruiser and to that 
respect the sportsman must appeal. The nets at 
the mouths of the Labrador and Newfoundland 
rivers are a curse to anglers and even the cod 
nets and seines in the deep water off the coast 
seriously hurt the streams. 
I have never kept an accurate account of the 
salmon 1 have killed which showed net marks, 
but it is no exaggeration to say that over half 
of the salmon of any size caught by the angler 
have been in the nets. The grilse, of course, 
owing to their smaller size, escape without 
marks, but how many noble fish are actually 
caught by the nets during the season will never 
be known to the sportsman; if he asks he is 
generally told, only a barrel or two. 
