BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 437 



" When the baud-line or hookiug process was the only means used 

 for taking mackerel tliere were five or six hundred vessels in the Gulf 

 in one fleet, and by the large amount of bait thrown by them the 

 mackerel were brought together iu large quantities. But under our 

 ])rcs('nt means [system] of taking, viz., seining, no bait is used, and 

 consequently the gulf mackerel fishing is worthless and useless to the 

 American fisherman. 



" WILLIAM W. KING." 



Capt. George H. Martin, mast-er of the schooner Ethel Maud (77 tons, 

 IG men), of Gloucester, arrived home July 30 from the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence, where he spent a week without having taken any mackerel 

 at all. Captain Martin made the following statement: 



" I, George H. Martin, master of the schooner Ethel Maud, of Glou- 

 cester, do hereby say on oath that I have just returned home from a 

 mackerel trip to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence ; that I was unable to pro- 

 cure a single barrel of mackerel iu the bay, but on my way home I 

 secured a full trip off Mount Desert. I gave the gulf a full trial for 

 the taking of mackerel, and from my own personal observation, and 

 from aU that I could ascertain, I do not consider the fishery of any value 

 whatever to our people." — Geoege H. Maetin. 



" Sworn and subscribed before me this 30th day of July, 1884." — F. 

 J. Babson, collector. 



Capt. George McLaiu, master of the schooner Henry Dennis (91 

 tons, 16 men), arrived at Gloucester, July 30, from a six weeks' cruitje 

 in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. He brought home 138 barrels of ma<}k- 

 erel, of which none were taken inside the three-mile limit. Captain 

 McLain says, "I do not consider the gulf fishery of any value what- 

 ever to our people." 



Capt. William P. Gray, master of the schooner Commodore Foote 

 (Gl tons, IG men in crew), who arrived July 30 from a trip to the Gulf 

 of Saint Lawrence, makes the following statements : 



" I, William P. Gray, master of the schooner Commodore Foote, of 

 Gloucester, do hereby on oath depose and say that I went from Glou- 

 cester on a mackerel trip bound for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence ; that 

 I took ISO barrels of mackerel 15 miles oft* Cape Sable, which I lauded 

 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and sent home; thence I proceeded into the 

 Gulf of Saint Lawrence, where I passed six weeks ; that I went all over 

 the bay, giving it a complete trial for the taking of mackerel, and only 

 succeeded in taking 30 barrels of mackerel. I consider that 1 am $3,000 

 stock out by going into the bay for mackerel, and I do not regard the 

 gulf fisheries of any value whatever for this season. On the contrary 

 they have proved a big outset." — William P. Gray. 



" Sworn and subscribed before me this 30th day of July, 1884." — F. 

 J. Babson, collector. 



