438 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Capt. Merrill B. King, master of schooner M. S. Ayer (76 tons, 10 men 

 in crew), arrived at Gloucester July 30 from a cruise in the Gulf of 

 Saint Lawrence, where he spent four and one-balf weeks seeking for 

 mackerel, but without taking a single barrel. Captain King makes the 

 following statement: 



" Coming home, oft' Mount Desert, Maine, took 370 barrels of mack- 

 erel. The going to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence was a great damage to 

 me, my loss of time and failure to take any mackerel making a loss of 

 $3,500." 



Capt. Joseph I. Tu^jper, master of the schooner Jennie Seaverns (107 

 tons, IC men), arrived in Gloucester August 15, from the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence. He caught only 55 barrels of mackerel during the eight 

 weeks spent in the gulf, none of which were taken inside the three mile 

 liuiit. Capt. Tupper says : 



" On returning from the bay, and on the coast of Maine, we caught 

 400 barrels of mackerel in six days ; value of which is $1,800. I regard 

 the pecuniary damage to me by reason of going to the bay at $4,000." 



The schooner Landseer (94 tons, 16 men in crew), Capt. James Mc- 

 Donald, arrived in Gloucester August 21, having spent two months in 

 the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, during which time 105 barrels of mackerel 

 were caught, 50 barrels being taken within the three-mile limit. The 

 value of these fish caught within 3 miles of the shore, exclusive of the 

 cost of barrels, salt, packing, and inspection, was $250. Captain Mc- 

 Donald tersely sums up the results of his trip to the gulf in the follow- 

 ing sentence : 



" I regard my loss by reason of going into the bay at $2,000." 



Capt. James L. Anderson, master of the schooner William H. Jordan 

 (86 tons, 18 men), who arrived in Gloucester August 20, stated that he 

 spent four weeks in the bay, but caught only 30 barrels of mackerel. 

 On his way home he took 300 barrels of mackerel in ten days' fishing 

 off the coast of Maine. He owns another vessel, which remained on this 

 coast, and he says of her : 



"My other vessel caught 1,030 barrels of mackerel while I was in the 

 bay." 



Capt. John P. Aiken, master of schooner Bartie Pierce (90 tons, 17 

 men), returned to Gloucester August 25, from a five weeks' trip to the 

 Gulf of Saint Lawrence, where she took only 20 barrels of mackerel. 



When it is understood that statements similar to those given above 

 might be multiplied by taking the testimony of almost every fisherman 

 that has been engaged this year in the mackerel fishery of the Saint 

 Lawrence, it will be easy to comprehend the fact that while the method 

 of taking mackerel with purse seines remains in vogue, we can count 

 on deriving little or no benefit from a participation in the iu-shore fish- 

 eries of the British provinces. 



Gloucestee, Mass., September 9, 1884. 



