Resources 
     
    
   
   
    
     houses 169 ; freezers and ice-houses 5 ; piers and wharfs 35; 
     
     steamers and smacks 12; and number of persons employed 
     
     2,252. The value of the lobster plant was $236,957 ; of the 
     
     vessels, nets, etc., $113,016; and of the houses, piers, and 
     
     steamers, $45,675—a total value of $395,648. 
     
    

    
     In order to encourage sea»fishing and the building of 
     
     fishing boats, the Dominion Government by Acts passed in 
     
     1882 and 1891 and by Orders in Council, provides for the 
     
     distribution of $160,000 annually among the fishermen and 
     
     vessels of Canada. This bounty is paid under certain 
     
     restrictions on the basis of $1.00 per registered ton to vessels 
     
     up to $80; $7 each to vessel fishermen; $3.50 per man to 
     
     boat fishermen; and $1 per boat to the owners. The total 
     
     bounty paid in P. E. Island in 1902 was $8,716.55; the 
     
     number of claims paid was 912 ; the number of vessels 
     
     receiving bounty was 28 with a tonnage of 630 ; the number 
     
     of vessel fishermen receiving bounty was 13 5, and the 
     
     amount paid to the same was $1,608.75 ; the number of boats 
     
     receiving bounty was 884, the number of boat fishermen 
     
     was 1,638, and the amount paid to same was $7,107.80. 
     
    

    
     One of the greatest sources of profit is the Lobster 
     
     Fishery. This industry shows signs of deterioration from 
     
     over fishing: but the strict enforcement of the regulations 
     
     regarding the close season, which is from the 15th July until 
     
     the 19th April inclusive, etc., is having a good effect. A 
     
     lobster hatchery is being established near Charlottetown. 
     
    

    
     The mackerel fishery once enormously productive, has, 
     
     since the introduction of purse seines and gill nets, declined. 
     
     The herring and cod fisheries are yet practically undeveloped. 
     
    
   
   
    
     gait; Prince Edward Island is celebrated for the 
     
     oYster Land excellence and abundance of its oysters. They 
     
     may be taken on almost any part of the coast,—the many 
     
     estuaries, rivers and streams being admirably adapted for 
     
     the cultivation of the delicious bivalve: but the best beds 
     
     are in Richmond. Cascumpec and Hillsborough Bays, and in 
     
    
   
   
    
     the rivers flowing into these waters. The first named— 
     
     [38]