436 BULLETIN OF TllK UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



offish were talen iHfhin the ihree-vnJe limit. It is also noteworthy that 

 the captaius who have submitted and sworn to these statements are 

 known to be experts in the mackerel fishery, their vessels are among 

 the finest of the New England fishing fleet, they carried large and ex- 

 perienced crews, and in every instance when they did not come directly 

 home from the Gulf, they succeeded in catching large fares of mackerel 

 in a few days oft' our own shores. The vessels all belong to the Glou- 

 cester fleet. 



Taken in their chronological order, we have first a statement from 

 Capt. Stephen B. Cole, master of schooner Delia E. Norwood (74 tons, 

 IG men in crew), who arrived from the bay of Saint Lawrence * July 

 19, having been cruising for three weeks iu the Gulf without catching 

 any mackerel. 



''We were in all parts of the bay, and did not at any time see any 

 mackerel. In coming from the bay and while on the coast of Maine, 

 we took 374 barrels of mackerel, [worth] about $1,500. I consider 

 that we lost by going into the bay $3,000 at least." 



Capt. William W. King, master of schooner John S. Bray (79 tons, 

 16 men), who arrived in Gloucester, July 27, from a six weeks' trip to 

 the Gulf of Saint Lawrence caught only 15 barrels of mackerel in the 

 gulf, none of which were taken inside the three-mile limit. The follow- 

 ing, dated Gloucester, July 30, 1884, is the statement of Captain King : 



"When I first went into the bay [Gulf of Saint Lawrence], I went 

 to East Point, Prince Edward Island, where there were about 17 

 American vessels; never got a mackerel or saw one. From there went 

 to North Cape [P. E. I.] with the fleet [but] got nothing there; then to 

 West Cape, Prince Edward Island ; got nothing there ; came back to 

 Malpec; went down the "bend" of the island; from there to Margaree 

 [Island], Cape Breton shore; got nothing ; went to Cape George Bay; 

 went to North Cape [P. E. I.] again ; from there to Escuminac; got 

 nothing this time; came back to Cascumpec and got 15 barrels [of 

 mackerel]. One vessel, the Isaac Patch, took 35 barrels [of mackerel], 

 which were all that were taken to my knowledge. We were [purse] 

 seining ; did not see a vessel hooking or hand-lining for mackerel 

 while in the bay. Saw no large bodies of mackerel anywhere. Saw a 

 few mackerel in schools containing from one to five or six barrels. 

 Coming back, off" our own shores, saw large bodies of mackerel, and 

 took 250 barrels between Mount Desert and Seal Island. 



"It is my judgment, based on an experience of ten years' successive 

 fishing, that the mackerel off our own shores are always moving in 

 large Indies, and are available for seining, but when they go into the 

 Gulf of Saint Lawrence they break up and scatter for food, and in this 

 condition are not available for seining. 



The Gulf of Saint Lawrence is almost always spoken of by the fishermen as "The 

 Bay," or the " Bay of Chaleur," sometimes as the "North Bay," and nore rarely by 

 Ihe name of Gulf. 



