DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES,

227
The catch is a little larger than last year, and is as follows :
Lbs. Value.
Whitefish 32,000 $1,600
Tullibee .. 60,000 3,000
Pickerel .. 25,000 1,250
Pike 50,000 2,000
Total ... 167,000 $7,850
The above is the quantity of fish sold or bartered, and does not include the fish
caught by Indians in this district, which, placed at a low estimate, amounts to
2z5,000 ibs, at an average of 4 cents per pound. Exclusive of Indians, there are 27
men, with 19 boats wor.h $228, and 128 nets, worth $312, engaged in the business.
License fOr a seine was issued to (ibm Pelbetier, but as he used the net to fish during
the close season, he forfeited his license and was fined $ 5.
Gill net licenses were issued to John Leader, Simon Blondeau and Baptiste
Robillard to fish in the Qu'Appelle Lakes with four nets each. Great quantities are
caught in the west and shipped along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway,
which come in competition with the catch of licensed fishermen, and cause considerable
dissatisfaction. This is an injustice. The license system should be extended so
as to place all upon the same footing. With the one exception noted above the
regulations have been well observed by the whites, but the Indians are doing great
damage through fishing in the close season. I would suggest and strongly urge upon
our Honorable Minister the necessity of making some arrangement with the Indian
Department, looking to the prevention of the wholesale destruction at present
carried on in the close season by the Indians, and which is suicidal to the fishing
interests of the country, as well as their own fish-food supply. The heads of the
Indian Department in this country fully appreciate the great value of the fisheries
to the Indians, and only require some definite and reasonable proposition, looking to
the cooperation of the two departments, to act upon it.
Two dams were put across the Qu'Appelle River by the Department of Fisheries,
one at Fort Qu'Appeble the other at Katepwe, each provided with a fishway As they
were not built until August, they have made but little difference in the height of the
water, but next year 1 trust the fish will receive great benefit from them in an
increased depth of water at spawning time.
I am pleased to be able to state that there is an apparent increase in the white.-
fish of the Qu'Appelle Ltkes, to say nothing of the increased swarms of tullibee.
I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
F. C. GILCHRIST,
Fishery Overseer.
SPECIAL REPOiIT ON THE QU'APPELLE DISTRICT.
FOaT QU'APPELLE, AssA., 31st December, 1888.
Sia,.—.In furtherance of a wish evinced by the Deputy Minister of Fisheries, some
time since, I beg to make a report upon some of the outlying fisheries and subjects
pertaining thereto. At that time I expected to visit the Prince Albert and Battleford
Districts as well as the foothills of the Rockies, but owing to circumstances
requiring my presence elsewhere, my observations were not so extensive as they
otherwise would have been and were confined to central, western and southern
Assiniboia.
The extent and value of the fisheries of .&ssiniboia are very great, innumerable
small and large lakes are distributed over its surface, that are teeming with white
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