THE FISHERIES OF CANADA. 343 



know yet all the riches of the British Columbia waters, but can infer from reading 

 the official report that they are teeming with a great variety of commercial fishes. 



Our most important deep-sea fishing-grounds are the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, 

 from the Bay of Fundy, around the southern part; around the coasts of Cape Breton, 

 New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island; embracing the Bay of Chaleurs and the 

 Gaspe coast, and extending to the island of Anticosti, Labrador and the Magdalen 

 islands. There is probably no part of the world where such extensive and valuable 

 fisheries are to be found as within the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Nature has bountifully 

 provided within its waters the utmost abundance of those tishes which are of the 

 greatest importance to man, as affording not only nutritious and wholesome food, but 

 also the means of profitable employment. 



The cod fishery. — Of all the deep-sea fisheries of Canada, the most important is 

 the cod fishery, which furnishes employment to thousands of men and contributes 

 most largely to our exportation trade. It is one of the leading industries in Nova 

 Scotia, New Brunswick, and the lowest part of the Province of Quebec, and last year 

 it contributed over $6,000,000 to our export trade. I will not attempt to give you the 

 history of the Canadian codfishing; it would take too much of your valuable time. 

 I will content myself with a brief summary of the way this industry is carried on. 



The cod appears on the Canadian coasts at uncertain dates, generally between the 

 middle of May and the beginning of June, sometimes in the latter end of the month 

 of April. Local variations in the time of its arrival, amounting to days and even 

 weeks, frequently occur, and these are dependent on the temperature, which deter- 

 mines the movement towards land of the various forms of marine life on which the 

 cod feeds. It has some favorite spots, where it is found in greater quantities. These 

 are the places which present the best advantages for the preservation and hatching 

 of the spawn. Having deposited its spawn, it withdraws to shallow places, called 

 banks, where it always finds food in sufficient quantity to satisfy the well-known 

 voracity of its appetite. About the month of December the codfish appear to leave 

 the shallow soundings and banks inshore and go farther out to sea. 



The codfishing season varies with the different provinces, beginning earlier in 

 Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where the climate is not quite so severe as in the 

 province of Quebec. From April to November, inclusive, may be given as an average 

 time. The arrival of the cod on the coasts in the spring is heralded first by the 

 herring, and secondly by the capelin. The latter is a small fish, the favorite of the 

 greedy cod, and therefore the best fishing bait. In every large fishing establishment, 

 during all the month of June, two or three boats, each of them manned by 7 men 

 called seiners, are employed day and night in going about the coast in search of the 

 capelin. When they meet with a shoal of these fish they cast the seine, load their 

 boat, and hasten home to distribute these little fish amongst- the fishermen. Each 

 codfishing boat receives an equal share of the fish thus brought by the seiners. 

 Vessels engaged in fishing on the banks run into the harbor at intervals for fresh 

 supplies of capelin as bait, which they preserve in ice. 



In some parts of the Dominion a considerable quantity is dried, packed up in 

 small boxes, and sent to some of the United States markets. After the capelin has 

 disappeared from the coast, about the end of June, the launce, the herring, the mack- 

 erel, the squid, the smelt, clams, etc., are used as bait for the cod. 



Our cod being mainly taken by hand lines and bultows or set lines, the cost of 



