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["Where Stake Weirs exipt to the prejudice of NaTigation they are only maintained by the sufferance of the public as regards the use of NaTigation, and no length of time can prevent them from being amenable to this objection." — Evidence of T. fipring Rice, Esq., M. P., (Lerd Monteagle), 1825.] M BKMARKS ON THE FISHERIES BILL. TO THE HONORABLE ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, Commitnoner of Crown Land$ / SIR, '. In the debate on the Fisheries Bill, introduced during the last session of the legislature, it was correotlj asserted " that it was hardly possible to over-rate the importance of the Fisheries to this country." The editor of Baron Ourier's Natural History of Fishes, in alluding to the Herring Fishery uses eren stronger terms. " The OoSee bean, the Tea leaf, the iSpices of the torrid Eone and the Silkworm, hare less influence on the wealth of nations than the Herring of the northern seas. Luxury and caprice may seek those productions, but necessity requires the other. This fishery sendl erery year numerous fleets to collect from the depths of the stormy ocean an abundant and certain harvest, which the vast shoals ofitar to the cour- ageous activity of difi'erent nations. The greatest statesmen, the most intelligent political eccnomista, have looked on the herring fishery as the most important of maratime expeditions. It has been called the Oreat Fishery. It forms robust men, intrepid mariners, and experienced naviga- tors. The nations industriously occupied in this Fishery know how to make it the source of inexhaustible riches." The submission of your bill to the people, with the debate upon it in the Legislative Oouncil, is a course which cannot fail to meet the apprecia- tion of every one feeling an interest in the measure, as it affords all con- cerned an opportunity of expressing an opinion upcu its merits. Of this opportunity I now avail myself^, and respectlnlly submit for your consideration the following Rkmarks, the result of some reflection upon the means of developing the Inshore Fiaberiea of the St. Lawrence* Before, however, alluding to the points involved, I desire emphatically to state that I have no interest whatever in these Fisheries, and in giving pub- licity to my oonviotions I am influenced lolelj by a wish to contribute the ■fo rmfttlon ooUeoted for the benefit of the people at large. ThMe FisberieB have already received attention from former legislator!, t)Qt no marked results bare arisen from tbe labours of any of them ; indeed, daring a quarter of a century they hare uninterruptedly declined, notwith< .landing that Canada possesses in the St. Lawrence tbe link connecting the waters of tbe great lakes with the tides of tbe ocean—a field for tbeir oultiyation unrivalled in capacity and extent. When tbe banks of tbe St. Lawrence were first peopled, this vast field fcrmed tbe rich pasture-ground of untold numbers of fish ; 60,000 salmon were annually captured in one river alone. lu 1S41, 1,800 ^ere taken in one day at tbe Tadousac. Thirty years ago 3,000 barrels of Salmon wera annually shipped from tbe Restigoucbe. Every tributary from Niagara to Labrador as well as tbe whole river and gulf, formerly swarmed with these and other valuable fish ; there are indeed no regions in tbe world that bad more Salmon and fewer men than Labrador and the North Shore of the St. Law- rence, yet that abundance has by ignorance and abuse been turned to scarcity ; it is a scorn to Canada and her rulers that so many of the triba- taries of tbe St. Lawrence, runniag through comparative deserts, are depop- tdated of these beautiful fish. The first Act for tbeir protection was passed in 1789, tbe 28tb, Geo. III. This was followed by tbe 47tb and 48tb of the same King. The 4th, 5th and 9th, Geo. IV. The 8tb Wm. IV. The 4th and 5th, 7tb, IStb, 20th and 22nd Victoria, tbe present Fisheries Act. Many of these statutes required that a free passage for tbe fish up tbe rivers should be preserved, indeed they all record tbe opinion entertained by former legislators upon this point In 1857 the present government stafT was) organized to carry out tbe provisions of the law. This establishment has cost, with the payment of bounty claims, travellmg and incidental expenses, the sum of $102,700, about $12,800 per annum,* and with all this expenditure, the Inshore Fish- eries of tbe Lower St. Lawrence were in a worse plight last season than when the staff commenced operations in 1857. This tact tbe following comparative statement of tbe prices of fijh in the Quebec Market will illustrate :— 1857 1864 Green Cod, per barrel $2 75 $4 60 Dry, per 112 pounds 3 60 4 75 Salmon, per barrel , 18 00 15 50 Labrador Herrings, per barrel 5 00 6 60 South Shore do, do 3 50 3 60 Shad, a fish at one time ia guiii ribuadaace, and used by all 'classes, was last season nearly double the pricu it was a few years ago. Tbe prices ofsea-tront, mackerel, &c , have not dimiuisbed, and fish oils, notwith- Vide Pablio Account*. 6 Bglalatorf, ; indeed, notwith< onnectiog for their ▼Mt field aalmon taken in aon were agara to these and bad more St. Law- urned to the triba- re depop- Geo. III. 4th, 5th 20th and I required d, indeed ipon this ' out the fment of 5102,700, ire Fish- Bon than lUowing ket will 1 ) S > I :latBeB, > prices >twith- itanding the high bounty offered by law, still command the iun» priMiM ial867. It has also been authentically stated that fresh fish packed in lc« wu last season brought by rail from the coasts of the United States and laid down on Canadian fishing grounds for a leas sum than the same llsh eoold be there purchased for. The Report of the Honorable the Commissioner of Grown Lands for the half year ending the 30tb June last, says :— « The mercantile fisheries bara not been so productive as usual." Since that time appeals to the beneTO- lent hare buen made in many places to save suiTering fishermen from atarTA- tion, The principal objection to the Bill under consideration is that it eon* tains no clause to prohibit in tidal waters the employment of fixed engines for the oaptUi-e of fish. The fixtures used for this purpose on the shores of the dt. Lawrence are "Stake nets" and" Brush weirs," both self-acting fixed engines which it will be established are ruinous to all inshore fisheries where their use is permitted,— they cause this injury by the capture of the breeding stock in undue quantities and beyond the supply; at the same time they turn entire shoals out of their course along the shore * as well as fence them off their natural breeding grounds— the fry of the larger kinds as well as the smaller fish are also destroyed by the weirs. The stake net, which is of Scotch invention and used in Canada, is formed of strong netting attached to high stakes firmly driven into the soil, and runa from high to low water mark ; it acts upon the principle of a leader agaiast which the fish, seeking their rivers along the shore, strike, and are conducted downwards to a narrow opening, the entrance to a cage or eell, from which there is but little chance of escape. To render this engine more deadly a second leader is often added and extends at a right angle from the coll of the first, when the whole engine forms a figure in shape not unlike the letter " L." This second leader is terminated by another c«U to which is sometimes appended a '^ gill net" which shoots from it into the deep water where it is irept stationary by anchorage so that fish which maj have missed the entrance to the cells of the stake nets generally enmesh themselves in the gill net and there perish. A stake net with double cells and a gill net attached could be seen in full operation last aeaaon at the Tadousac. Tbia machinery, by arresting the course of the fish, attracted • large whale with a flanking party of seals on each side to prey upon the straggling salmon. The brush weirs are similar in height and operation to the stake nets but are formed of Brush wood ; they also contain at the lower end one or more cages in which fish of all kinds and sizes affecting the tide way are ♦ Ruaaell on the Salmon, p. 302. Letter of R. A. O'Donnell to Mr. Lyiaght, p. 8. Report of Committee, llouse of Loids. 6 •neloled. Theie wein «re put up In the ipriag and continue fiihing dsy Md night without intermission during the whole season until the frost of Winter obliges the fishermen to remove them. Practical men agree in stating that these brush weirs ruin the Herring Fisheries, and as this is a most important branch of trade it would be a seri< one omission not to record their opinions. The herring is a natire fish which breeds along the shores of the lower 8t. Lawrence and disappears after spawning time either by returning ^o the iea or sinlcing into the depths of the river. A few however linger on the eoast during the whole season. Yarrell * says ' the proper mode of fish- ing for herrings is by drift nets, but whether in deep or shallow wate/ the nets are only in actual use during the night. It is found that the fish strilce the nets in much greater numbers when it is dark than when it is light, the daricest nights therefore are the most favorable ; it is supposed that nets spread in the day time alarm the fish and cause them to abandon tho places where that practice is followed^it is therefore strictly forbidden." Mitchell, t in substance, asserts thct fishing during the day for Herrings should be prohibited by the Legislature, as it drives away the shoals. Parley also writes on the same subject " that nothing tends more to break up and destroy Herring fishing than setting nets in the day time."t This fish Mitchell also says " is extremely select as to its spawning ground and does not spawn in the open sea ;" i's disappearance from breed- ing grounds on our shores is therefore rationally accounted for. It was stated during the debate " that as far as Herricgs were concerned they do not frequent the river now as much as they used to do ; the character of the shores changes and the fish go elsewhere to spawn. Near River Quelle the sea car::ied off a shoal and th^re are now very few Herrings caught on the shores of the Parishes of St. Denis and River Quelle." The sea did not carry off a shoal from the opposite shore, but the Herrings have deserted that also, and they formerly abounded there in great numbers— it is the Brush Weirs, as will be present'y seen planted upon their very breeding grounds, which have diminished their numbers as well as obstructed their Approach to these places. John Sandall, Esquire, who was long actively engaged in the fisheries of the Bay of Funfly, writes — "Herrings are taken around Grand Manan and West Isles by Torch-light and Brush Weirs. These Weirs must destroy » great quantity of fry every season."^ "Formerly,,' writes Mr. Perley, « the quantity of Herrings cured in this ♦Hist, of Brit. Fishes, vol. 2, p. 187. t The Herring, its natural Hist, and national importance, p. 38. t Report on Fisheries, Bay of Fundy. I Appendix to Report an Sea and River Fisheries of New Brunswick. plftM (Ann»polUi Basin) was from 2S,000 to 30,000 boxes annually ; and twenty years ago the average catch of every Weir was 2,000 boxes each season. The whole quantity now cured (1850) from the oatoh of all the Weirs together was supposed not to exceed 2,000 boxes."* Ifr. Ray said " that he formerly cured 1400 boxes of Herrings every season from the catch of his Weir. The quantity gradually diminished to 400 boxes, and after the weir was placed on the bar it fell off to 200 boxes. Daring the season (18iO) he did not catch a single fish."t It was stated by Mr. Biley, of Annapolis, "that about one-half of all the fish caught in the Welra are entirely lost ; that he had sometimes seen 300 or 400 barrels of Herrings taken during a single tide, left in the Weir to spoil. It is quite certain that this fishery has fallen off to such an ex* tent as forebodes its ceasing altogether ."t OoohranOraig,Eaq., J. P., of Grand Manan, writes to Mr. Perley— " They (Herrings) are also taken in Weirs, which are put down on every bar and in almost every channel which those fish *' play" through, and even sronnd our shores. This mode, I think, must be nost destruetive, as in securing such as are fit for use, they destroy double the quantity saved, of those that are entirely too small for any purpose whatever but manare."§ " These Standing Weirs," adds the same writer, " are most injarioni to the Herring and In-shore Fisheries. None that I have talked with on the subject pretend to deny, and they have been many of our oldest and best fishermen, and among them several of the Weirholders themselves." And further on he continues—" I will, with a large majority on my side, say that I consider the extent to which our In-shore Fisheries are and have been injured by the destruction of Herrings, both fit and unfit for pro- per use, taken in the Weirs, is almost endless, The heavy schuUs of Her- ring Fry being yearly cut up by those Weirs, and the Ood having no bait to draw them in-shore, they are only to be found far out in deep water, where boats and small vessels (the poor man's dependence), cannot follow them." Again, " It is considered a settled point by all experienced fishermen on this island that, while so m&ny Weirs are allowed to stand, so long will our Herring and in-shore fisheries continue to decline. So long also must we b0 annoyed with obstructions to our navigation, which many of the Weirs are at present." " Next to the Weirs," writes the same gentleman, " the falling off of our Fishery may be attributed to the very great destructicu of spawn foi^ many years past. The preservation of spawn ought to be attended to ; bat II -^1 . * Appendix to Report on Sea and Biver Fisheries of New Brunswick, t Ibid. Jlbid.; § Ibid. f,; ( 8 what will be the uie of thli, if the Herringi are to be fenoed in and killed before tbej are the length of joar finger." " We had formerly a law here/ addi Mr. Oraig," during which our Herring and other in>ihore fiiheriei remarkably improTcd; «t that time however, there were no Weirs."* Augaitni F. Kynaiton, aotlng-oommander of U. H. aloop Penian, wrote to Hit Excellenoj Sir E. W. Head, Bart. :— ••There are actually Weiri laid down which mustlnecesiarily interrupt the course of myriads of fish, whlobi bad they been allowed to pass, could have deposited their spawn unmolested • Independent of this, these Weirs offer a great obstruction to free narigation' and I would renture to suggest their entire remoTal.t Captain UcLaughlio, a gentleman who was engaged as overseer of Fisheries for 18 years, also writes— '" The paf'sage of fiih is obatruoted by Weirs in every place where the fi^h resort.''^ This evidence establishes beyond question that wherever the weirs exist there the Herring Fishery declines, and it is a sad lesson to be taught that, throagb the blladnrss of former legislators, as well as the Inhabitant! themselves, a populous region, eztendiag fiom River Quelle almost to Ri- mouski, is now thinned of tlje most valuable species of fish which once affected it. The destructive tendency of Brush Weirs is to some extent admitted by the Bill which contains a provision requiring a net-work to admit of the escape of the fry and small fish, to be inserted at the lowest point inside, where the tida ebbs. This provision nill not effect the object intended, for the instant the tide ebbs the current rushes through the open net work as through a flood-gate, and naturally attracts the drift sea-weed and rubbish, which lodges against the netting and closes the apertures ; thu can be seen in any Weir in which the grating has been placed. The Basse and Shad Fisheries also are nearly extinguished by the Weirs. Perley, in allusion to the Basse (bar fish), wrote—" Basse were very plentiful formerly, but now are seldom seen, having been thinned off by the Weirs and other contrivances. § A Eealous missionary, who resided for many years in the Bay of Fundy, the Rev. Ferdinand Qauvreau, alluding to the condition to which the Shad Fishery would be reduced by these Engines, thus wrote to the Hon. If. H. Perley: — "Standing Weirs and Standing Nets are unquestionably the most effective means of destroying Sbnd altogether in our bays, or at least of thinning their quantity to an incredible degree ; both ought to be discon- tinued at once, and prohibited by strict laws, and defaulters heavily fined." * Appendix to Report a Sea and Kirer Fisheries of New Brunswick. flWd. J Ibid. 2 Report en Sea and River Fisberiei of New Brunswick. 9 >d in and killed erljaUwhere/ O'Uhon fifheriM Welra."* p Persian, wrott uallj Weira Uid a of flab, wbichi iwn uomoleated • free narigation' aa oreraeerof ) obatruoted bj ■ the weira eziat be taught that, the inhabitanta e ftlmoat to Ri. sh which once stent admitted to admit of the at point ioaide, t ibtended, for n net work aa ed and rubbish, hu can be aeen [uiahed bj the aae were rery ned otr bj the Bay of Pundy, hich the Shad be Hon. II. H. lably the moat or At leaat of to be diacon- learily fined." inswick. In another part of the aame letter the reverend gentleman adds—" I reiter* ate that both Weira and Standing Neta ought to be prohibited b; law, at being deatrnotire to Shad, and Tery rulnouo to our Fiaheriea and commerce. "Tue Bruah Weira," writea Mr. Perley, "are believed to be moat injurioua to the Shad Fishery, aa in almoat erery caan they were found to take the ■malleat fiab only." Many other authora could be cited to ahow the injury do.ie to the Shad Fiahery by the Weira, aa they capture the amall fish, and thua cut off the ■ucceeding year'a aupply. They are as deatructive to the Shad Fiahery aa they are to that of the Salmon. The Salmon affecting the Oulf and River St. Lawrence are identically the aame apeciea aa the Salmo Salar of the British coasts," posseaaing the aame inatiacte, and have been diminished by the aame means. Both kinds are reproduced iu fresh waters, and migrate periodically to the same ocean, where they grovr to an equality in eim. In the spring and early part of a. Tnmer the fish which have fattened themselves in the aea retuin again aloDg the coaal to their native rivers, there to deposit their spawn. The inatioc'v by which they are impelled at a certain season of the year to make their way from the sea for this purpose— the early-breediug fish ascending to the higher parts of the stream?, the later fish in succession sowing the lower portions with their seed, so that, in a natural state of things, the whole course of a river, so far as it atTords suitable spawning ground, be- comes stocked with the ova, is a beautiful arrangement. In their migration to the spawning gro mds the Salmon, Shad and other fish seek their pathway for miles close along the shores. — Yarrell f writes " When the Salmon rove along the coast in quest of the mouths of the different rivers in whtch they annually cast their spawn, they generally iwim pretty close to the shore that they may not miss their port ; and the fishermen who ate well aware of this coastiog to; age take care to project their nets in such places as may be most convenient for intercepting them in their course.'' Ruaselj: says " The chief aim of legislation on the subject, both in Eng- land and Scotland from Magna Charts downwards," and it may also be added now in Ireland, "has been to prevent the raising of standing gear in the run of the fish, but this prohibition did not cxteud to the sea coast, par;ly because that was not then known to be the run of the fish, and partly because no sort of engine had formerly been invented capable of standing and acting effectively in the open sea. It has now however been discov- ered that the sea coast is almost as much the course of the fish aa ia the channel of the liver or estuary. The Salmon returning to the freah water doea not lie off in mid-ocean and then, as with a needle and compass, steer "Descriptive Catalogue of Fishes. — Perloy. t Hist, of Brit. Fishes, vol. 2, p. 50. X The Salmon, p. 123. 10 I right into the rirer'smoutb. It feels, or as Sir Humphry Dsry ezpreased it to the Oommittee of 1824, tients its way along the shore for many milei. The distance from the riv^r of which they are in search, or from any rire*' at which Salmon befrin in a nautical phrase to hog the shore, is greater than seems generally believed, even by those who have paid some attention to the subject. To take a single illustration, we see a line of coast running out into a bold promontory, then trending inwards to form a bay fire miles indented. In the inmost corner of that bay stands a produotire stake-net fisheiy, although there is at the place no run of fresh water which would afford passage to a minnow, end no salmon river debouches within sixty miles. Here — and the fact is one of a multitude— it ia proved that even in the absence of any contiguous river the Salmon not only keep the shore but foUov; Its deepest and most sinuous indentations." The owcers of the Stake Nets and Brush fTeirs knowing this habit and keeping it in view, fix their Engines on the shore and arrest the gravid fish. The knowledge of this disposition of the Salmon ought of itself to indicate the necessity of inserting a clause in the Rill to prohibit the placing of per' manent machinery across their highway, as the destrnctive tendency of such a practice must be obvious . A few miles from River Quelle, in a deep bay, stood last season a net compoP' ' of brush, but heightened by net-work round the cages ; this Engir * Salmon net, has been in operation for several seasons. When first erected 1300 Salmon were ^uz^ually taken in it. This number has steadily decliaed, and last year the quantity captured was not over 100. I visited itin the month of July and found enclosed at the ebb of the tide, Salmon, Shad, Herring, Sardines, Smelts, Tommy Ood and Sticklebacks — the net* ting was not sufficiently large to admit of the passage of & Sardine. I visited the same Engine again in the month of September, when it was then still in operation. In Europe, as well as in Canada, it is only since the invention and em> plojment of the Stake Net that the British and Canadian Salmon Fibberies alarmingly declined. Other kinds of fixed Engines existed in the rivers of Britain, and some exist still, but they did not, nor do they now cause the same wbolesal9 destruction as that occaaioned by the employment of the Stake Net on the coasts and estuaries. This fact having been discovered, the Stake and Bag Nets by recent Legislation have been abolished, and the ascent of the numbers offish to long deserted breeding grounds is reported by English Journals to be astonishing ;— but I will not anticipate. The Stake Net was many years ago condemned by the highest authority *< as all Salmon and Salmon Trout return to their native rivers, so Staka Net fishings ought to be abolished."* * Encyclopedia, Brit Ed. of 1845, verbo Fiaberies. See aiso Rusiell on the Salmon, and a Paiflphlot on the Fishery laws, by W. Sinclair, Esq., addressed to the chief Secretary for Ireland, (1S63.) 11 Of the Bruth Woir, the lato Saperintendent of Fiaheriea for Upper Oa« nada lays : " The system of extending ' watling fenr's' in the St. Law- rence has, in a great measure, destroyed the Salmon Fishery of Upper Canada."* Tm Provincial Statute, 18 Vic. cb. 114, prohibited the employment of these and all self-acting machines as too destructlre. This wise law was repealed. It is not however in a new oonntry lacking experience that a sound principle is to be looked for on this subject ; that adopted by the Committee of the Legislative Assembly, the active members of which were dependent for their poUtical existence u;on the votes ot the Stake Net and Brush Weir cv/uers if not some of themselves actually engaged in the em- ployment of this destructive machinery is, " that the fixed apparatus of which some theorists complain, should not be prohibited, but that no law to regu- late their use, which can be enforced, can be too stringeut." This equivo- cally worded conclusion indicates the strong mi!igiving<« of the Committee as to its accuracy, and wheu it is known that it is principally based upon the evidence of Svake Net Fishermen who are personally enjoying the bene- fit of the expenditure of $12,000 per annum of public money, cannot weigh very seriously against the mass of testimony adduced which deprecates the use of fixed Engines. The Government Fisheries Stftff also, the members of which were but recently assigned to the performance of duties with which they never before Lad any opportunity of becoming familiar, have all along adopted the same erroneous principle " that Stake Nets confined to the places where they are at present used, are not more destructive to Salmon than would be any other Net fishing in the same places. t The unsound- ness of this doctrine is palpable, as it is diametrically opposed to the opinion and experience of all scientific and piactical men, as well as to that of the able statesmen who have legislated for the same fisheries in countries where their value has been fully appreciated. The first authority in addition to those already submitted which ex- poses the fa' icy of this doctrine, is the Rfiport of a Committee of the House c^' Commons on the Tweed Salmon Fisheries in ISS?, on which was based a private Act abolishing the fixed Engines known as "Stell Nets" and " Cairn Nets" which had been in use from time immemorial. In 1859 a second Committee sat and reported on the same fisheries confirming the abolition of these fixtures, and the discussion which took place gave the cue to the other Fishery Distticts of Scotland as well as to those of England and Ireland. In 1860 another Committee sat on the Ness and Beauly ab well as on •iO Thnrso Salmon Fisheries, and two Bills were passed by a Oommittee of the Commons to abolish Fixed Engines. A committee of the House of Lords * Rep. of Com. C. L. for 1802, p. 172. t Evidence of Mr. Whitouer beforo Uomm'Uee of Legislative Asvembly. i WA8 then appointed and made a report recommending the total abolition of Fixed Engines in Scotland. In 1812 fixed nets in the Firth of the Tay had been declaired illegal.* xa 1861 the Report of Sir William Jardine, Bart., the eminent natural- ist, and his associates, was published, and recommended that Stake and Bag nets should be abolished throughout England and Wales. " The principal cause of the decline of the P .Imon Fisherieg of Eng- land and Wales," say these learned men, who formed their opinions after a careful investigation of the subject, and after hearing from experienced and practical witnesses answers to 18,000 questions, were " Ist. Obstructions to the free passage of the fish. 2nd. The use of Fixed Engines— the latter cause including the former. — " Of all the evils that affect the fisheries arti- ficial obstructions must, beyond all question be regarded as most pernicions, whether such obstructions proceed from the Barrier nets or from the want of Fish Passes. It is obvious that to prevent the fish from entering the rivers is a surer way of destroyiiig the breed than the most deadly mode of making war upon them when they are there. The existence of such ob- structions is a cause fully adequate, if there was no other, to account for the gradual disappearance of the fijh ; and if effectual means be not taken to remove the evil the total extinction of tbo breed of Salmon must at no distant day be expected." Upon this report was based an act in the same year abolishing through- out England and Wales Stake Nets. In 1862 another committee recommended the total abolition of the Fixed Engines in Ireland ; a law passed in the subsequent year gave full effect to that recommeudation, and no new nets can now be erected any' where, and the commissioners appointed by the act can compel the removal of all Fixed nets that are in their opinion injurious to navigation or otherwise illegal. The following figures show the loss to one shareholder in the decline of a Salmon fisheryby the use of Stake nets in the Ballyshannon District in Ireland ,— In 1854 the Share was 26,602 lbs. 1855 " 16,802 " 1866 " 13,501 " mit " 10,088 " IMS « 14,381 " 1869 «' 7,2.31 " 1860 " 6,018 " 1861 " 3,493 "t '"RuBsel on tbo Salmon, p. 124, t Pampiilet on Irish Fisbories by W. Sinclair, addreiBod to Sir Robert Peel Bart, Chief Secrutary I'ur Ireland. 13 >lishing throagh- 3ir Robert PmI In Mother Fiibery, th« Tweed, tl|e following ststistlcs apeak for tbom- •elrei :— 1811 to 1815 Salmon taken 40,207 1816 to 1820 " 37,938 1821 20 1825 " 22,930 1826 to 1830 " 9,804 1831 to 1835 « 14,416 1836 to 1840 " 14,149 1841 to 1845 « 18,846 1846 to 1850 " 11,479 1861 to 1866 '• 9,085* The Encyclopedia Britannics Ed., ot 1845, verbo Fisheries, contains a tabalar siateoieDt oi thirty years' fishing on the Tay, divided into equal periods of ten years each. The first period, before Stake Nets were used, tho number of Salmon and Grilse taken was 130,854. Daring the succeed- ing ten year's use of the Stake Nets, the catch fell to 91,312. The third and last period — after the removal of the Stake Nets, and a rest of five years was afforded the Fisheries to recover—the catch rose to 225,372. These statistics afford conclusive evidence that a net increase by the removal of the Fixed Engines was obtained of 134,060 fish— about 140 per cent. The same reasoning applies to Trout, Basse, Shad, White>fish and other kinds which cast their ova on the shores of the St. Lawrence or ascend its tributaries to spawn ; it is therefore obvious that the Fisheries Staff in hold- ing, and acting upon the opinion they have expressed, have been virtually paid with the public money to injure the public interests. To neutralize the mass of testimony against their use, the proprietors of the Stake Nets and Weirs are accustomed to assert that the Salmon Fisheries in this country are different to those on the British coasts, but there is neither truth nor reason in this pretension ; the habits of both British and Canadian Salmon are identical, and the tide ebbs and flows on European shores with the same force as it does on those of the St. Lawrence. In many places indeed the British coasts are more open and exposed. It has also been boldly stated that the Brush Weirs do not capture Salmon. This is equally untrue ; one small Weir on the South Shore, in the seasoa of 1863, captured sixty-one full grown fish, and a Weir at the mouth of the Esooumains on the North Shore, a few years ago, destroyed in one tide eighteen bushels of Salmon Smolts. The policy to be pursued in Ganada must be directed not only towards the preservation, but to the bsbtobation of our exhausted Inshore Fisherifs, and that object can only be attainf>d if the reasoning I have submitted be sound, (and it is supported by the best authorities the world contains) by the immedia^.e removal of the fixed Engines ; this may temporarily inter- fere with the gains of the few, who in large estuaries or other favored localities still reap a precarious harvest at the expense of tht many, bat I * RuBsel on the Salmon p. 101. 14 hold it to be due to the people at large that these Bngineg ihoald be abolished withoot regard to the private gains of any individual. It is also contended by the advocates of the Fixed Engines that Sal- mon cannot be oaptnred efficiently by Drift Nets and Seines used on oar coasts and in the estuaries of rivers, bat they are without one tittle of rea- son or evidence to support such a theory, this mode of fishing for Salmon never having been properly tried in Canada, of which any record eziets, and it will appear hereafter that it haa been completely tested and with great success in British Salmon Fisheries, — Sections 11 and 12 of the 17th clause of the Bill imply, that Seines are to be used on the coasts in the White fish and Basse, as well as in the Smelt Fishery, and there ought to be no exception to the use of the same Engines for the capture of Salmon and Trout, as the habits of the White Fish and Basse are very similar to those of the Salmon in migrating periodically from the salt to the fresh waters to depcsit their ova. The Fishery officers, in giving their opinions of the effect which seining for Salmon would '>roduce upon that Fishery, do not agree even among themselves. Mr. Whitcher, in substance, contends that Seint'tieti for Salmon would be so inejfectual as to amount to a prohibition agaimt nttting these fish.* Commander Fortin, on the contrary, as stoutly maintains that the use of the seine would be much more destructive and injurious to the rivers than the use of the ordinary nets.f When these Doctors differ upon so plain a point it is time to call in some competent authority to decide between them. Mr. Ffennell, the Inspector of English Fisheries, writes on this snb- , 25. t Ibid, p. 27. i Fennell'i Pamphlet, 1863, p. 18. :; ) IL 15 fiib, M well M those of the Tvroed and Taj and the tens of thousands of other fish captured in Scotland with the net and coble, bring the highest prfce in the markets." B7 the 8th Section of the Bill, Bag Nets, which are Engines tunning from low water mark into deep w&ter, where they are sustained by an- chorage, are entirely prohibited for the capture of Salmon, and this is a wise and important prorision, as it is a fixed Engine of the moat objection- able kind. Another '* Infernal Machine," which unites the deadly character of the Bag-Net with that of the Stake Weir, is the Gill Net, an Engine which runs across the whole course ot the fish from high water mark down into the deep water where it is rendered stationary by anchors far below the line of the low- est tide; this apparatus descending into the deep water is in active operation at all times and during all conditions of the tide. The meshes of the Gill Net, each one of which forms a fatal trap, are of sufficient extension to admit the head, but not the shoulders of ordinary sized salmon, so tl ' i these fish in their attempt to pursue their course, are caught by the ner ^ under the gill coTcrs and strangled. It has been felt, to be essential even under the misapprehension which has existed upon the effect of the Stake Nets, that a weekly close time should be obserred by opening them, but there appears so far no means of opening the Gill Net». They ought to be entirely abolished. It was asserted during the debate that " it would be destructire to allow seines to be used in the fresh waters as is done in Britain." This statement must be taken with a great deal of allowance, if seining be car- ried on in the upper>waters of the tributaries, or upon spawning grounds no doubt it wculd be injarious, but this is never done, and some of the older statutes already cited establish that it wa« always forbidden in this country, the 47, Geo. Hi. oh. 12, § 14, 4 Geo. lY. 0. 1, § 7, expressly de- clared that $iining should not take place in any river above thefint rapid, A subject of growing importance to the maritime classes of the popula- tion residing on the coasts of the St. Lawrence, as well as to the public at large, is the free navigation of its shores by bateaux, boats, and small craft at all times, bat which dnring the prevalence of wind owing to the obstruc- tions the Weirs occasion wheresoever placed in tidal waters, is dangerous to life. The inconvenience caused to the long shore navigation by these fixtures was entirely kept out of sight during the whole discussion, but the public interest requires that attention should be directed to this point. It will, no doubt, be concuded that wherever the tide ebbs and flows \ there exists a right of highway inhere n\. in the public which no private title [overrides. The obstruction of this highway by fixtures constitutes a pub-, Uic nuisance to abate which an indictment would lie. In thfl case of Ryan vs. Hayes, Chibf JtrsTioi PtiNsrATRiB, in deliver- 16 ill!! ing Jadgment said " erery person has a right to use the King's fHighwaj, and no one can obstruct that by making an erection which causes an ob- struction. This is not the case of bailding an erection in certain plaoei which may injure a few individuals, but on the whole is perhaps an adran- tage to the public, but here a person erects prirate Weirs to the injury of a class of persons who must not be injured by prirate speculations of this description * * * . No person has a right to say, I will leare the public a portion of a highway, and take the rest to myself."— JusTiois Bub« TON, Obamptom and Pbrrin concurred. At Watkrford Sumubb Assizis, 1844, in the trial of Tht Queen «i. Dobbyn, et al, on an indictment, Babon Pknnbvathib in charging the jury said— "Wherever the tide ebbs and flows is a highway open to all Her Majesty's liege subjects ; their rights are not to be abridged, and an inter ference with public rights is a nuisance at common law. KiLUNNY SuuuiB AssizES, 1844. The Queen vs. Patrick W. Power. Inlictment for a Nuisance to the Public Right of Fishery in A tidal part of the river Suir, by the erection of a stake weir. ! M Babon Psnneitatbbr— -Oentlemen of the Jury—" The statute of Magna Charta, which it declaratori/ of the common law, dfclares and enacts that fish shall not be taken by fixed engines. The sea is open and the right of fishing is open, and that right should not be interfered withby any fixtureain the soil, and lam therefore of opinion that those Scotch Weirs {Stake Net/,) are against the Common Law, and they are indictable if they create an injury. Now th« injury stated hero is to persons having the right of fishing in the place in question, and the answer complained of by them is, that they could not by any possibility take Salmon ia that place, for that Salmon in that part of the river could not be taken by line, by fishing rod or by moveable nets * * All the subjects of the Queen have a right to fish in a navigable river, and no one has a right to fix down engines to take fish; and if they do It is against the common law of the land. * * The man who owns a small boat is as much under the protection of the law as the owner of a vessel of 1,000 tons burthen ; and he has a right to the free use of the way as much as the proprietor of the largest ship * * '" The Harbour Commissioners of Limerick addressed the Board of Admi> raity in 1862 in the following terms : "It must be almost unnecessary to represent that the existence of the impediments (fixed engines) renders the navigation of the river (Shannon', most inconvenient and dangerous for small craft, depriving them of the shelter of the shore iu rough weather and driving them out into the channel oven at high tide, and that while the Lords of the Admiralty bo stringently protect the public rights of naviga- tion against all other impediments, thoy should not forbear to exercise their antbority against these erections which have been so loudly complained of and so aathoritatirely condemned." HIiPi ?5^^^^:^"NtiVf^ 17 Extract from a letter from John Long, Bjqnlre, Oiril Eagiaeer to the Board of Admiralty :— " Daring the boisterous weather of last week I went along both shores (Shannon) in a boat, aad ia keeping in shore for shelter was always obliged in passing the Weirs to keep oat into the tideway, sometimes at great risk. On one of those dajs, during a strong ebb, opposed by a stiff, nearly half* gale breeze, the Stake Weirs rendered it inrossible to keep the shelter of the land, which with th» aid of the backtide inshore w )ald have made oar course safe and easy ; with much danger we rounded the Stake Weirs, encountering the troubled tide way and adverse current outside at great risk."* " There are numerous instances of boats having been wrecked and lives lost," says Mr. Lysnght, <* on those Stake Weirs and Big Nets, bat one will sufScse as <\n illustration. On the 20th December last, between seven p.nd eight o'clock in the evening, loud cries were heard procee'^'ng from the direction of a Stake Weir belonging to the Knight of Glin. It was discov- ered that a boat of eight tons, with foar men, were in the most imminent danger, having struck on the Stake Weir. Four policemen went to their assistance and found that a boat had been driven on the Weir by a north- west wind while endeavouring to make the quay. There was property worth £150 on board. The stakes had run into the boat in such a manner that the men had the greatest difficulty in cutting them away with saws and hatchete, and eve itually the boat was brought into the bay in a sinking condition."! The French law upon this subject was defined by the Ordinance du eauxet /bre/t, which prohibited the erection cf mills, Fuheriet ot other impediments to navigation^ The Judges under the beigniorial Act stated the law to be "that Seigniors had no other rights over navigable rivers than those specially conrejed to them by iheir grants, provided these rights were not incon- sistent with the public use oftht waters of thott rivers, which is inalienable and imprescriptible."^ At the Criminal term of the Court of Queen's Banob, held at St. Thomas in Ootoboi 1862, William Fatten, Merchant, was indicted for a mis- demeanc; in having cut loose a boom the proper'y of Honore Morin and another, upon the River dn Sud. It was pleaded that no offdnee WIS committed. That tbe river was a highway, the boom acro3S it a nuisance, and that the party injured by a * Appendix to letter on Mr. MoMahun't liill on by W. Lysaght t Pamphlet by W. Lysaght. t Ord. of 1669. i Robertson's Digest, p. 4SS. the Irish Salmon Fisheriei, 18 lil noiianoe had at common law a right to abate it himself, without by bo doing committing any crime. The jury found the defendant guilty, but tbe Judge entertaiumg doubts upon the point aubmitted, reserved the question for tbe opinion of the Gonrt of Queen's Bench sitting in Appeal and Ilrror. That Oourt decided that tbe defendant in breaking the boom committed no ofTeace, and gave judg- ment setting aside the judgment and dischargiug tbu defendant. Mr. jus- tice Meredith intimated as hid opinion tliat tho ({ue^tion which should have been submitted to the jury was wt ether tlie boom was a nuisance, on which Mr. Justice Mondolet remarked that tbe obstruction of a river ia a nuisance which any one injured by it has a clear right to abate. It has been seen above that Baron Pennefatheb baa over and over again held the Stake Weira to be public nuisances ; the Brush Weira and Qill Nets are of course the same. Since the acquisition of Ctmada the irado of the St. Lawrence has increased from a yearly tounaga of 0,'IOJ tons to that of 618,920 tons, and it may be well for the legal advisers of the Vice Admiral of a British Colo- ny to consider whether it be 3ou^ijteat with the public interests to Bu£fer these nuisances to navigation as well as to fishing to subsist any longer. It has been intimated that tlie I'rush Weirs destroy the small fish as well as the fry of the l.irger kinds. U is these small fish that serve as the natural food of the God, and wbtruver this supply fails, there the Cod Fishery must also decliao. To destioy this bait by using it to manure the soil, which is constantly prac'icod, is ubviously an effectual way of driving the Cod from haunts whore uiiuh wivote prevails. "There has been great complaint of late years," wrote Mr. Perley, "of the falling off in the Cod Fidhory in the upper part of the Bay of Okaleurs — it is said to be every year decreasiog. At Carleton, Maria, New Richmond and other places on the Gaspo shore, the fishing esiablisbmenta are deserted and going to ruin. At these places there was formerly an abundant supply of fisb, but the inhabitants now barely catch enough for their own winter store. The decrease is also felt on the New Brunswick shore. The deoline o( tbe Cod Fishery in the upper part of the hay is attributed to the wanton destruction of the proper and natural food of the Cod— Herring and Oapelin, which are taken in immense quantities, not for immediate eating or for curing, or for bait, but /or M./uurt/.< the land. In a repreaentatiOQ made to tbe Legislature by a fisherman of Gifpe, it ia atated that tbia fiahetman has seen five. hundred barrels of ('rtpelin tnken in one tide ezpreaaly for manure, and that he has also xeen one thousand barrels of herrings caught at one time and left to rot u;)on tbe beach." Mr. Fortin, in bis report f^r \6^/8 manure. Since tbe pasainf? of the statutes reguiatinp; tbe Salmon Fisbeiies of England and Wales and of Ireland, so si'ort a time has elapsed that it baa been almost insufficient to afford an indication as to what tbe fruits of that legislation miy be XovertbulRss, some of the English journals, even at this early stage, represent tbe effect of these recent lawa as promising in the extieme. Tbe Statute applying to England and Wales received tlv Royal assent in tbe year 1861, and the third Report cf the Fishery Inbiz-^c- tors la thus alluded to by a London journal :— "Two years aud a half hayo passed since an Act for the Improvement of tbe Salmon Fisheries in England and Wales came into operation, and the third Report of the lospectora appointed under it, which has just been presented to Parliament, atforda ua the means of estimating tbe probable benefits which we shall derive from the measure. It is gratifying to find that these in no dep;ree fall short of the anticipations which we bad ventur- ed to indulge. Already a most sensible increase offish appears to be re* cognized in every one of the rivers to which the Act has been applied. Replies have been obtained from thu local mAnagcrs of tbe rivers from Cumberland to Cornwall, of those which debouch into the English Ghannel, and of those of Northumberland and Durham, and thpro is a uniform acknowledgment of the very marked, and in some cases striking, increase in tbe numbers of Salmon seen and caught. lu some instances tbe improve- ment has already affected the markets, aud brought the prices down from an average of 2s. to Is. per pound, occasionally even so low as Sd. Waters hitherto empty are reported now to be swarming with fish. " It ia well to remember that, though the new Act is watched over by Government Inspectors, there is really no Government action, and none but tbe simplest of general regulations involved in its operation. All that it professes to do is — keeping in view that tbe Sdmon is a migratory fisb, which must ascend the rivers to breed aud descend to the sea to feed — to prevent any single owner who holds a portion of the course it must traverse from so exercising his rights rf property as to extirpate it altogether. Tbe Act, therefore, prohibits the erection of any impassable barrier, such as Dams or Weirs, and any absolutely fatal methods of fishing, such at thote by Fixed Nets, or any fishing at all at tbe time when tbe fish are out of sea- 803 and unfit for fooJ. These simple rules are left to be enforced by the owners of the rivers themselves, who are authorized to form, if they choose, v« m i li'M III 20 Mioeiationi for oarryiog them iato effect, and puniibing their breaob bj the infliotion of the itatutory peaallies. AH that the Intpeotori have to do is to watch, ia the interest of the public and of natural history, the reeulta of tbeie operatioDO, and to acqiaiot Parliament with the experience gained and the further measures that are thought to bo desimble." The law applying to the Irish Fisheries was passed on the 28th July, 1863, and the effects ariaing from it in uffurdiog employment to increased numbers of poor fiahermen ia 80 short a time are astoQlshing. An English Joarnal thus adverts to the subject:— " ft is pleasant to find that the recent legislation on the Salmon Fish- eries is improving the condition of the Qjbermen oflela d, in all the Dis- tricts where the Act has cjme inio fa 1 operatioa. Near Sew Rosa, in par- tioultr, there are now employed, according to the cili^ial returns, 1,392 men, working 348 Drift and Snap Nets, where luac year there wore only 147 oe)B, findiug employment for GbS men, all of them only oue remove from paupers t whilst now each man can earn fiom £2 153. to £3 per week. Last year the highest amount paid in one week by buyers of Salm. n in Xew Ross was £105. Bince the first of March this year, the money paid there per week for Salmon has averaged from X700 to X1,U00." A correspondent of the Field alludes to the large increase of fish in the opper waters of the Shannon, and when it is remembered that the rivers are the proper nurseries of tne Fidberies on the coasts the policy of admitting the ascent of a sufficient number of fiah up the livers tor the purposes of brood and reproduction ia obvious, l^he Field's correspondent says, *'It has been observed that the appearance of such large sized SUmon in ihe upper waters of the Shannon portends an abundance for the ensuing season. Beyond all doubt it argues well and strongly in favor of the new Fishery laws and against the Stake Nets; for while these were in existence, ■caicely a single fidh large or Email was permitted to ascend. *' As regards the Special Commissioners their conduct has been every- thing that could te desirtd ; befure they set to work the Salmon fisheries of Ireland had been monopolised by a few proprietors of Stake and Bag Nets, which devi red all before thtm, and hli our rivers in the upper wa- ters as destitute of fish as ihe high road. What is the case now? These Tile nets no longer exittt, and as a consequence most of our rivers in all parts are letming with fish, and all the subjects of the Queen sharing in the gereral prueperny. • • • Xbe truth is it was the Stake Nets in ite tidal wuiers that were demolishing the fijb, aad not the lax weir, for as soon as the former were removed from that moment the fish began to pt^netrate the liver, its lakes and tributaries in all directions, a distance of two hundred and forty miles from the sea. Before the abatement of those nets, to my personal knowledge Salmon were as scarce as Dolphins at the places I have named ; and now that they are no longer in existence, thanks to the wisdom of the legislature with the gap in the Lax Weir widened to I ^1 60 feet, and the weekly oloie time for neti and weiri ooniidorablj extended alio, tbeiacrease ia a ibort time hence in the upper districts must be pro digious — as an old Shannon fliberman obierred to m<) a fetr days ago* < There won't be wather enough in the liver to hould 'em all shortly .' "* The Editor of the London Daily Newt of the 15th April, 1866, writes, " It is seldom that legislation founded upon correct principles is attended with success so immediate and marked as the Salmon Protection Act of 1861. We hare now before us the Fourth Annual Report of t^e Inspectors who were appointed under it, and their statements are conclusive as to the great increase of Salmon which it has already been the means of causing ia oar rivera and estuarias f Where it was not at once brou(;bt into opera- tion the increase appears in the shape of a larger size of the Salmon oangbt last year, proving that it bad saved for another year's growth a proportion that would otherwise have been destroyed ; but whore it was at once adopted its iaflucnce now appears in an immense augmentation of the num- ber of Qrilsc aud Silmoa caught, proving that those which it saved the first year have already repaid the care taken of them by yielding pro- dace which is already fit for market. In proof of this it ia sufficient to quote gome of the prices which, as Mr. I'.den justly observes, are the best index of the supply. He tells us that at Sydney, in the lower Severn, the rate was at one time last year so low as ii. per pounuV and that at Shrews- bury, on ihe same river, it was lower than it bad been known f'jr years. At Oarlisle the fall we learn was considerable ; at LHiicaster the price was greatly ^ower than usual and for some timo continued at 8d. At Chepstow and at Carmprthen it was as low as Od. and 7d. perpnuud. These are encouraging facts, and tell us that the interference with the rights of prop- erty which was necess'iry to save property from destruction, has in this instance at least been justified by success. <* It is natural, however, that the working of the act should have brought to light some defects in its provisions. These are chiefly of the same char- acter as those which the Act was intended to remedy, and therefere involve no new principle for their amendment. They arise from the fact that the Salmon is a constantly migrating fidh, always either ascending or descend- ing the rivers ; that it can only spawn in fresh water, but only grow and fatten in the sea ; and that hence whosoever impedes its progress not only robs his upper or lower neighbours of the opportunity of catching it, but as effectually destroys it or its progeny as if bo had killed it on the spot." The Times of the same d^te contHins a similar account of the enormous pro- gress of the British Salmon Fisheries under the provisions of the same Act. The principle clause in this Act of 1861, which has promoted this great increase of Salmon in English waters, was also the principal clause inserted • The Field, 18th March, 1865. t See fourth Beport of Englivh Inspectors, Messrs. Ffennel and Eden. 22 in the Bill introdacfd by Mr. Irvine, the Member for MegMtio, daring iMt seiiion, and irbioh i« itill before the Lower Hoaie. There can be no reMon to doubt that if a claase be added to the Fith- eriei Bill to aboliab the 6zed Bngiaei, that our Fitberiei will yield not only a fair commercial value but alao a large increaie of wholesome food- while the population is augmenting, and while efforts are being made to Increase it still more by emigration, no source for the supply of aliment should be OTerlooked, particularly one which if Judiciously managed re* quires Deilber expense to maintain nor labor to improve its capabilities. Tho RiBTORATioN of thesc Fishuries is a subject which concerns the public mora than any indiTiJual. To the ftsberroan decrease of numbers ruay be compensated by increase of price ; to the public it involves a de- crease of food. The ittroRH suj^gested In the modes of fishing may, for a short time, inoonvenierce a few, but these very persons will be the first to reap the benefit that will inevitably follow its adoption. The decline of the Fisheries under the large and n cent outlay of pub- lic money need not create dijcouragetnent, as these funds have been mis- applied in giving effect to principles fundamentally erroneous, and not based upon that intimate knowledge ot the natural history of the fish with- out which no sj stum of protection can be of the least avail, and it would be unfair to expect Fishery Oflicerp, who had no previous training or experi* ence, taken from other branches of the public service, to be qualified for the efficient discharge of duties which in more advanced countries are renerally entrusted to Naturalists and men of great experience, and it would be well to consider before another $100,000 is cast into the St. Lawrence, whether it would not be prudent to adopt the stme course as that pursued in Eng- land by the employment of an Officer possessing attainments qualifying him to direct ihts important branch of the public service, and if no one already possessing the necessary attainments can be found, to send on a visit to the principal Fisheries in Europe, some one who would in a few months acquire the requisite information. Under any circumstance! it would be ruinous to persist in the continued employment on the shores and in the tributaricB of the St. Lawrence of the fixed Engines which, when they do not wholly capture, the gravid fish scatter and drive them out of their course * as well as fence them off natural breeding grounds ; these Engines have also destroyed the fry of the larger kind?, and have so far diminished the sustenance of the Cod as in many ins'nnces to banish him from long- frequented biiutits. The course necessary to restore the Inshore Fisheries to their former productiveness has been plaiolj indicated, and has laeen tried and approved i * Kassell, p. 362. Letter of K. A. O'Donnell to Mr. Lysaght, p. 8. Com. Iluuie of Lorda. Rep 23 ]«d to the Fith- 11 yield not odIj oleaome food— I beiog made to ipplj of alimeot ilj managed re. :apabilitie8. in older countries ; let ui therefore profit by their example and the derelop- ment of the raat tield Canada poueiiei for the production of food and wealth for her people, wlU be certainly accomplished. I hare the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient Bermut, F. W. G. AUSTIN. 'Tiuebec, Ist May, 1865. I oullAy of pub- bHve been mis- leous, aud not )f the fish with- kod it would be ling or ezperi* laalified for the 8 are renerally would be well roDce, whether rsued in Eng- nts qualifying and if no one , to send on a rould in a few ances it woold ires and in the when they do a out of their these Engines far diminished m from long- ^^^'