April 8, 1911.] 
The Lake Champlain Situation. 
Albany, N. Y., March 29.'— Editor Forest and 
Stream: A matter of very great importance to 
the fishermen of our States bordering on Canada 
will come up at the special session of Congress 
called by President Taft for April 4 in the form 
of legislation intended to ratify regulations 
agreed upon by the International Fisheries Com¬ 
mission of the United States and Canada. 
On April 11, 1908, the Hon. Elihu Root, then 
Secretary of State, agreed to and signed with 
the Right Honorable James Bryce, English Am¬ 
bassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, a 
treaty relative to the fisheries contiguous to the 
United States and the Dominion of Canada, 
which was ratified in due course. This treaty 
provided among other things that within three 
months the contracting parties were to appoint 
a commission to be known as the International 
Fisheries Commission, consisting of one person 
named by each Government, whose duty it should 
be to prepare a system of uniform and common 
international regulations for the protection and 
preservation of the food fishes in international 
boundary waters. It was provided that the regu¬ 
lations should embrace “close seasons, lim.ta- 
tions as to the character, size, manner and use 
of nets, engines, gear, apparatus and other appli¬ 
ances; a uniform system of registry by each 
Government in waters where required for the 
more convenient regulation of commercial fish¬ 
ing by its own citizens or subjects within its 
own territorial waters or any part of such 
waters; an arrangement for concurrent measures 
for the propagation of fish; and such other pro¬ 
visions and measures as the commission shall 
deem necessary.” 
President Roosevelt appointed David Starr 
Jordan a commissioner representing this coun¬ 
try, and T. S. Bastedo was appointed commis¬ 
sioner representing Canada. Mr. Bastedo was 
afterward superseded by Edward Ernest Prince. 
These commissioners in company traversed the 
international boundary waters and eventually 
draughted a set of “tentative regulations” which 
were submitted to Secretary Knox by Commis¬ 
sioner Jordan, and by Secretary Knox trans¬ 
mitted to President Taft on Jan. 31, 1910. On 
Feb. 2, 1910, President Taft submitted the regu¬ 
lations to Congress “in order that due legisla¬ 
tive action on the part of the Government of 
the United States may be taken as stipulated for 
in Article III. of the convention.” The message 
and tentative regulations were read and referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, but no 
action was taken by Congress. Again on Feb. 
10, 1911, President Taft sent a message to Con¬ 
gress stating: “I cannot too strongly urge upon 
Congress the importance of taking prompt ac¬ 
tion to put into operation the conservation 
measures provided in the regulations, and to 
which this Government is pledged by treaty 
stipulation.” This message carries with it a 
report from David Starr Jordan under date of 
Jan. 20, 1911. It was read and referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, where the matter 
rests at present. 
The Forest, Fish and Game Commission of 
the State of New York was never consulted in 
any matter having to do with the proposed 
regulations by Commissioner Jordan. The regu¬ 
lations in some respects appear very unfair and 
ill advised as applying to New York. The Lake 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Champlain situation is particularly significant in 
this respect. New York State for years has en¬ 
deavored to secure co-operation in preventing 
net fishing in Lake Champ.ain. New York and 
Vermont came to an understanding in this re¬ 
spect and tried to get the Province of Quebec 
to co-operate with them, but though the two 
States sent several commissions to Montreal, 
and in one instance at least procured an agree¬ 
ment from the Quebec Minister of Fisheries 
that netting licenses would no longer be issued 
on the Canadian side, the agreement was not 
kept and Quebec has never ceased netting 
spawning fish in her end of the lake. 
ihe situation has been extremely aggravating 
to public-spirited citizens of New York who are 
interested in conserving the fish supply of Lake 
Champlain. The lake is roughly 120 miles in 
length. Of this practically the entire extent is 
in the United States, forming a boundary be-, 
tween Vermont and New York, except Alissis- 
quoi Bay, which extends about six miles into 
the Province of Quebec. Missisquoi Bay, as it 
happens, is unfortunately the spawning ground 
for the wall-eyed pike which are by all odds 
the most important food fish in the lake. These 
fish are netted from March 15 to April 15 in 
Missisquoi Bay, and until recently were shipped 
away by the carload. In the last few years the 
authorities of New York and Massachusetts have 
cut off the most profitable market for the netters 
and not nearly so many fish are shipped. The 
result has been’apparent in that many more pike 
are being taken during the open season in New 
York State and Vermont as a result of the sav¬ 
ing of breeding fish. 
1 he better people in Canada have not sanc¬ 
tioned this netting during the spawning season 
of the pike and have realized it was particularly 
unfair to their southern neighbors, but it is 
said an unsavory political deal has prevented 
an improvement of the condition. It was hoped 
that Commissioner Jordan would take some ef¬ 
fort to improve this condition, but instead of 
doing so he has, if anything, made matters 
worse. 
There is no earthly reason why Lake Cham¬ 
plain, a long narrow lake running southerly more 
than one hundred miles south of the interna¬ 
tional boundary, should be classed as a border 
water. Under the proposed regu’ations the 
police powers are taken away from New York 
and Vermont. Instead of prohibiting netting, 
the regulation permits the use of nets except 
within a radius of one mile from the mouth of 
any river flowing into the lake, and instead of 
making the months of March and April the close 
season for pike, as in New York State, the 
regulations permit these fish to be taken up to 
April 15, which has always been the limit per¬ 
mitted the netters under the Canadian license. 
Whether or not this is good judgment from a 
purely theoretical standpoint is doubtful, but 
from the practical standpoint the people who 
profit financially by stripping the lake of its 
breeding fish could have nothing better. When 
Professor Jordan was in the neighborhood of 
the lake, it is said, he spent his time with the 
Canadians chiefly and got his ideas from them. 
Some of the influential people in the northwest¬ 
ern corner of Vermont, whom he probably saw, 
are also beneficiaries of the Canadian net 
licensing matter in Missisquoi Bay. The Legis¬ 
lature of Vermont, evidently taking its cue from 
541 
these proposed international fisheries regulations, 
which it is confidentia.Iy stated will be passed, 
have again permitted the netting of fish on their 
side of the lake. The situation is discouraging. 
No one who has studied the situation believes 
that with the large number of inhabitants at the 
present time on its shores, Lake Champlain can 
stand any considerable amount of netting and 
have any fish left. The time has passed when 
this destructive method of taking fish can sen¬ 
sibly be permitted and the remnant shouid be 
conserved for those who fish with hook and line. 
Even with hook and line it was getting possible 
under the improved conditions which have lately 
obtained to make a large catch—thirty, fifty, 
eighty and even one hundred pike were taken 
last summer from a single boat in a day. It 
will now be difficult to resist the pressure of 
those wanting to net in New York State with 
both Quebec and Vermont raking the lake, and 
it is more than likely the next few years will 
see the supply of fish in this beautiful body of 
water most seriously depleted, unless—and it 
seems this is impossible—the shortsighted regu¬ 
lations formulated by Jordan fail of passage in 
Congress. j 0HN Blm 
Opening of Maine Lakes. 
John C. Phillips, of Wenham, Mass., has 
most kindly sent to us some information which 
will be of no little interest to many Maine 
anglers. It has to do with the average time of 
opening of Maine waters for fishing and comes 
to him through the kindness of C. E. Farns¬ 
worth, advertising agent of N. Y., N. H. & 
H. R. R. Co. Air. Farnsworth speaks of the 
difficulty of obtaining detailed records of the 
going out of the ice in certain of these Maine 
lakes. From an official of the Maine Central 
R. R. he has received the following information: 
I find that it is impossible for me to give 
you the dates when the ice has left Sebago, 
Rangeley and Aloosehead for the past five or 
ten years, but I am giving you below the dates 
the ice went out in the spring of 1910, which 
was an abnormal year, and some three weeks 
ahead of the usual schedule for that event. 
Sebago Lake, April 1. Steamer service com¬ 
menced April 2. Singularly enough the ice left 
Sebago last year the very day the law was off, 
April 1. 
Belgrade Lakes, April 6. Last year, 1909, the 
date was April 26. 
“Green Lake, and other fishing waters on our 
Alount Desert Branch, April 6. 
Grand Lake, April 10. Last year, 1909, the 
date was Afay 6. 
“The Rangeleys, April 18. 
“Moosehead, April 20. Last year, 1909, the 
date was May 15. 
“Lake Moxie, and the other smaller lakes in 
Somerset Railway territory about Aloosehead 
Lake, April 16.” 
The Bangor and Aroostook R. R. says that 
“the opening of navigation on Aloosehead Lake 
for the last five years has been as follows: 
May 13, 1906; A lay 14, 1907; Alay 15, 1908; Alay 
15, 1909; April 20, 1910.” 
The Alaine Central Railroad has not been 
heard from with dates of the opening of Range- 
ley and Sebago lakes. The information is ex¬ 
pected every day, however, and when received 
will be sent on. 
