The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-25
REPORT FROM THE INTERNATION-
AL COMMISSION is SUBMITTED
TO CONGRESS-.
JOINT BODY ADVOCATED
HELD TO BE INEXPEDI-
EMF,
GREAT LAKES MOST TRoUBL EsoME
Irritation Caused by Misunder-
standing of the Dominion of the
Water Lines.

WASHINGTON, Feb 24.-The presi-
dent has sent to congress a report Of
the commissioners appointed under the
act OF 1892 to examine into the condi-
ton and recommend the best method
OF protecting fisheries in contiguous
waters of the United States and Can
ada. The report is very voluminous
containing correspondence between the
governments and reports upon the sub
Ject of fisheries. 1t covers exhaustive
ly all the features Of the fisheries Of
the great lakes and the other interna-
tional waters along the boundary. 1t
also includes the full correspondence
between the British foreign office and
the state department. The two com
missioners, Richard Rathbun. repre-
senting the United States, and William
Wakeham, representing Great Britain,
submit separate series Of recommen-
dations in regard to the fisheries from
the Atlantic to the Pacific The rec
Ommenda tons cover the fishery re-
sources and the means for their pres
erVatton OF ST. John river, the ST. Croix
river system. PassamaquOddy bay and
vicinity, Missesquoi bay, Lake Cham
plain, the st. Lawrence river, the great
lakes and connecting waters, Lake of
the Woods, Rainy lake, Rainy river.
Columbia river, and the waters be-
tween British Columbia and the state
Of Washington.
The commissioners considered that
the following fisheries were covered by
the agreement entered into Dec 6, 1892;
the mackerel fisheries of the Atlantic
sea coast and the Gulf Of st. Law
renee, Passamaquoddy bay and ada
cent waters; the st. John and st. Croix
rivers, Lake Memphremagog, the upper
part OF the st. Lawrence and the chain
of great lakes, Rainy lake, Lake Of the
Woods and Rainy river, Columbia
river, Frazer river, Gulf of Georgia.
Puget sound and Trail of Juan de
Fuca
All of these waters except Rainy
Lake and the Columbia river were
visited by the two commissioners joint
ly. On account of the diversified char
acters of the waters investigated, the
variety Of their products and the mag
n1tude OF the industries to which they
give rise, the commission say they
found it impossible to consider fully
all the questions the subject presented
and therefore have been unable in
many cases to reach more than general
conclusions, leaving the matter of de-
tails to be settled by further and more
complete inquiries.
Our observations" they say, have
clearly demonstrated the inexpediency
OF attempting to regulate any Of the
fisheries herein described by a rigid
code Of enactments, owing to their
constantly changing character ana
conditions, and we, therefore. urge, In
the event Of joint action by the two
governments, that a permanent Joint
commission to be composed Of COM
petent experts be provided, which shall
be charged with the direct supervision
of these fisheries and shall be ernpow-
cred to conduct Investigations and
modify regulations as circumstances
require
The commission say no system Of
regulations can be properly adrninis-
tered except by the licensing or regis
tering Of fishermen as a basis of re-
stricting the character and amount OIL
apparatus employed in each locality
They also say much of the irritation
between fishermen, especially in the
region of the great lakes, has been
caused by a. misconception of the do
minion of the intervening water lines.
the belief being widespread that be-
yond the three mile limit the waters
are neutral. They suggest the ex-
pediency of official maps Of the Great
Lakes showing the boundary line and
the distribution Of these maps among
the fishermen.