FISH CULTURE IN CANADA During the past year 1,024,282,000 fry were planted in Canadian waters by the Dominion fish hatcheries. Some idea of the extension of this work may be had if we remember that the number of fry planted in 1905 was 627,541,000, while in 1900 it amounted to only 265,941,000. Notwithstanding the enormous output of our hatcheries in 1909, we cannot yet rival the production of those of the United States, which, in that year, planted 3,107,131,910 fry. The number of hatcheries in operation, of course, shows a corresponding increase. In 1900, there were 12, in 1905, 28, and last year the number was 37. In other words, the number of hatcheries in ten years has increased by nearly 210 per cent., and the output by about 285 per cent. The government fish and lobster hatcheries are located throughout the Dominion as follows: (a) Nova Scotia: Bedford, Windsor, Margaree, Bay View, Canso. (b) New Brunswick: Restigouche, Miramichi, Grand Falls, Shippigan, Shemogue. (c) Prince Edward Island: Kelly pond, Charlottetown, Georgetown. (d) Quebec: Magog, lac Tremblant, Tadoussac, Gaspe, lake Lester, St. Alexis. (e) Ontario: Ottawa, Newcastle, Sandwich, Wiarton, Sarnia. (g) British Columbia: Granite creek, Skeena river, Harrison lake, Pemberton, Rivers inlet, Babine, Stuart lake, Nimpkish. The total expenditure in 1909 on fish culture in Canada was $180,345. The amount voted for this purpose was $322,300; so that approximately 56 per cent. of the authorized amount was expended. The expenditure for each province, and the number of hatcheries in each, was as follows:" FISHERIES OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND By E. T. CARBONELL Secretary of the Fish and Game Protection Association, and Game Inspector of Prince Edward Island Although the area of Prince Edward Island is comparatively small, the income derived from fish and game, when considered in connection with the area, exceeds that of most of the other provinces of the Dominion. Still, the present value of the fish and game to the Province is but a fractional part of that which it most assuredly would be if proper conservation measures were adopted. The province of Prince Edward Island has an ocean-lapped shore of about three hundred and eighty miles, intersected by numerous bays, and marsh-bordered creeks and tidal rivers. It is studded with both freshwater and salt-water ponds and numerous small lakes. These natural advantages make it not only the ideal habitation for many species of food fish and resident game birds but also the most attractive resting place and feeding ground for wild geese, brant and other migratory game birds on their northern and southern flights. Unfortunately for the Province, neither the food fish, the game fish nor the game birds are as plentiful as they were thirty or forty years ago, owing, doubtless, to the suicidal policy which has been followed, of catching and killing all that was possible in any manner and at any time opportunity offered. The food fish and crustacea are becoming scarcer and scarcer each succeeding year. Last year the output showed a decrease in value of $181,067.56 from the previous year. On the other hand, the game fish and game birds during the past five years have shown a great increase in numbers in consequence of the increased measure of protection they have received during those years. This is a strong argument in favour of the conservation of all fish and game. Salmon Game Fish The industry of salmon fishing is but little attended to in this Province, the catch last year being less than 5,000 pounds. There is a hatchery at Kelly pond maintained at a cost of nearly $2,000 a year, from which hundreds of thousands of salmon fry are distributed among the various rivers. Last season over one million were so placed. Every fall the rivers of the Province are invaded with vast numbers of salmon, which go up the rivers to spawn. These are the genuine salmo salar, which return to the salt water after spawning and do not then die immediately, as is the case with the salmon. on the Pacific coast. Unfortunately, but very few salmon are tempted to enter the inland waters during the open season when their flesh is good for food; for there are no spring-water rivers on the Island which they can possibly reach to clean themselves, as in New Brunswick and Nova. Scotia. The only salmon taken, therefore, are those captured in nets off the exposed headlands, with the exception of the few spent fish which are taken in the spring of the year in the Morell river while on their way to the salt water. These fish readily take either the fly or bait, but are unfit for food. Owing to the natural conditions, nothing can be done to render this industry of any great value. It is very doubtful if even the placing of fishways in the dams would be of much value so far as the salmon fishery is concerned. Trout During the summer months the tidal rivers of the Province are inhabited by great numbers of the beautiful Greenland trout (Canada salt-water trout). These fish offer every possible inducement to the angler, as they are numerous and gamey, while their flesh, which is a bright reddish pink, is a great delicacy. They vary in weight from half a pound to three pounds each. During the last five years they have been fairly well protected, and, in consequence, they have vastly increased in numbers in spite of the large catches that have been made. The mill-ponds of the Island and the streams above the dams on the rivers are filled with the offspring of the Greenland trout which were imprisoned when the dams were erected. These fish, being prevented by the dams from making their annual pilgrimages to the sea, have deteriorated so much as to have become of little or no value, either as a game fish or as an article of food. Not only have their gamey characteristics been lost, but their bodies have become soft and slimy. Their flesh, having lost its firmness and bright pink colour, has become flabby and of a dirty white hue, with no trace of the original delicate taste. An efficient fishway erected in every dam would permit these fish to make their needed trips to the sea and in one season they would recuperate and thus again become of value. The streams above the dams require to be stocked with the fry of brook trout, or other fresh-water fish, and, if the hatchery at Kelly pond were to be devoted to the hatching and distributing of such fish, it would be doing a much more valuable work than it does now in hatching salmon from which the Island receives little or no benefit. The dates at which the sea trout make their appearance in the undermentioned harbours, or begin to ascend the rivers named below are approximately as follows: Charlottetown harbour May 24th. May 15th. Cod Food Fish For some reason cod fishing is not now being as vigorously prosecuted as it was a few years ago, a trifle less than 2,464,000 lbs. having been taken last season. Happily the dogfish, those scourges which have caused so many fishermen to retire from the industry in disgust, are either moving away to other quarters or, for some other reason, decreasing in numbers. This decrease is claimed by some to be due to the vast increase in numbers of the fish-eating birds which prey on the young dogfish. These birds have been protected around the coasts for several years. It is to be hoped that, with the disappearance of the dogfish plague, many former cod fishermen may be encouraged to again engage in the industry. Haddock Haddock fishing, like cod fishing, has not been prosecuted with as much vigour as formerly, fishermen having become discouraged by the dogfish. The haddock catch last year amounted to 134,736 lbs. of dried fish and 43,400 lbs. of fresh. The disappearance of the dogfish will again induce men to engage in this industry. Hake Hake fishing continues to hold its own. The catch last season was nearly up to the average of 1,200,000 lbs. a year. The slight decrease in the catch from that of the previous year was owing to the exceedingly stormy season and the consequent danger of staying out on the fishing grounds during the night time in the very small craft which the fishermen use. Herring The herring fishery industry appears to be on the increase. There was, however, a shortage last year in Kings county, but it was more than made up by the increased catch in Queens and 1 |