22 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
across the mouths of tidal rivers, the schools of scup so thick that they 
crowded each other out of the water in their passage, single hauls of 
from three to five thousand shad, and of from one to nine hundred thou- 
sand alewives with.the small nets used at that time, the taking of a hun- 
dred sturgeon with the hook and line in a day, and other similar facts 
all going to prove the general statement. A fisherman could, in a few 
hours and within a short distance from his home, fill his boat with cod, 
haddock, halibut, and other valuable species, and could take hundreds 
of pounds where now from one to ten would be considered a satisfac- 
tory return under the same circumstances. 
As already stated, however, we may look forward, if not to the for- 
mer state of things, yet to a great improvement on the present condi- 
tion, and to this the efforts of State governments as well as of the Gen- 
eral Government and of the Dominion of Canada are being directed — 
with the utmost zeal, seconded by a growing public sentiment. 
It may be remarked that the number of shad and herring (alewives) 
barreled on the Potomac River as the result of six months’ fishing is 
equal to the entire yield of the Scottish fisheries for the entire year of | 
1873, one of their most successful years. 
In an appendix to the Documents and Proceedings of the Halifax 
Commission, pp. 3360 et seqg., prepared by Mr. Goode, will be found a 
statement, as approximately accurate as possible, of the yield of the 
shore fisheries returned in the year 1876, wita partial returns for 1877. 
These, it will be understood, are entirely the results of the inshore 
fisheries, with scarcely an exception, the capture being made by pounds, 
traps, or gill-nets, set either on or close in shore, or by line-fishing from 
open boats, also close to the land. 
I have also compiled a table of the sea fisheries of Canada for the © 
year 1876, rearranging the tables of the report of the minister of marine 
and fisheries, so as to show what are purely sea fisheries, what are fresh 
water, and what are incidental products. In preparing this table I 
have converted the estimates of the weight of dry, smoked, and pickled — 
fish into their estimated weight when fresh, so as to supply a more 
ready comparison. It is extremely difficult to obtain any estimate of 
the yield of the distant fisheries, prosecuted in vessels and from the 
ports of the United States. The report of the Washington Bureau of 
Statistics for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, enumerates: 
‘ Pounds. 
OMAN: aise cele ov p= = eh socio bee ye eee ee eee eons es = ke ob veccepmeceene 71, 373, 900 
POOH Co nc ce wake Ole Cakcen eat tenet eh darted id ua wees tae en 30, 542, 500 
OU hi senior con eee aan c, nobis te pisns eben (= see nenateee eee ss. el pee Seca neem 22, 328, 700 
Operas. oo. 2.2 2 hast Seals Loe ROR EE REE el eee eee 11, 503,540 
Fresh fish, not cured....- je bee eh tect ab eieeeeoneecls sseekoos eee 99, 677, 911 
A second column gives the estimated weight of these fish when fresh, 
and is obtained in making up the table of Canadian statistics by mul- 
tiplying the weight of the codfish by three; and adding one-fifth, or 20 

