Anglers, Fishers, and the St. Croix River: Conflict in a Canadian-American Borderland, 1867–1900

Abstract

Sportsmen figure prominently in American conservation history. But while sportsmen and sporting activities have been centra l to discussions of the evolution of nineteenthcentury conservation law, their impact on rural destinations has not been fully investigated. This article looks at the St. Croix River Valley of New Brunswick and Maine to analyze the internationa l response to a pro blem of resource property rights and inland fishery access. The St. Croix River Valley along the Canadian-American border demonstrates the difficult ies of managing a shared environment. Author James A. Tober analyzed the character of nineteenth -century wildlife management, positing that two gro ups interacted to create the matrix in which wildlife policy was developed: one group was the often urban-based, affluent sportsmen; the other group was the rural, seasonal market-hunters.' Unlike the market-hunters, sportsmen were wellorganized, well-funded, and able to influence the legislative process. Th eir overall spending in local and state economies also translated into influence when wildlife statutes were both drafted and enforced. In the Canadian-American context of the St. Croix River Valley, three governmenta l bodies administered natural resources. Until the late 1860s the indi vidual provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada East and West (today Quebec and Ontario) controlled the fisheries within their borders. Although the 1867 entry of these provinces into the Canadian confedera tion brought control of their waters under federal jurisdiction, ow nership of the fish remained with the individual provinces. This meant , for example, that while New Brunswick claimed the fish caught in its waters, the Ottawa government controlled the waters where the fish were caught. This division of responsibility did not apply in the United States, where states govern ed natural resources directly, and federal law influenced decisions only indirectly. The infusion of sporting tourist capital into the St. Croix River Valley beginning in the 1860s created economic opportunities on many levels. Local merchants and hotel proprietors benefited from the increased patronage of visitors. The state and provincial treasuries of Ma ine and New Brunswick also profited by licensing sportsmen. Ho wever, not all valley residents realized an economic gain. Comm ercial fishermen who drew a seasonal income from trade in Atlant ic salmon were gradua lly edged out of operation by an amalgam of vested interests. By the early-twentieth century legislation aimed at conserving fish stocks on the St. Croix and other regional waterways pushed such fishers to the margins of local prosperity.