294 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF PISH AND FISHERIES. [6] 



obtaiued this year are very uiudi lower than they wer.' last year. For 

 the large flitches 5 cents per pound was paid, the small flitches brono-ht 

 only half price, while 1 cent per pound was paid for loggy tish. Hali- 

 but flns, which are considered quite a delicacy, are worth $9 per barrel. 



Table .howmgihe daily catch of the schooner Alice M. llilliam.s dnri>,!, June, Jul,,, ami 



August. 



Total catch for the trip about 8,000 ti.sh. This would probably include the pjiiall halibut, some of 

 which were used for bait, and otliors that were too small to be taken into the daily account. 



The Concord left home May 12, but on her passage down the Nova 

 Scotia coast she sprung a leak, and put into Arichat, Cape Breton, for 

 repairs. May 27 she left Arichat, and June 10 made Iceland ; the fol- 

 lowing day she went into Reykjavik, where a pilot was obtained. After 

 iiuiking the necessary preparations for fishing, namely, landing barrels, 

 tilling water, &c., for which privileges 400 crowns were paid, the Con- 

 cord proceeded to the iishing ground and commenced operations. 



Captain Dago says that at tirst he generally set the trawls twice a 

 day, but he soon found that a single set, and a change in the position 

 each day, resulted far more satisfactorily, a larger quantity of lish being 

 taken with f;ir less fatigue to the men. He estimates that he took about 

 25,000 pounds of fresh halibut as his largest day's catch. The trawls 

 were set 02 times, fishing being carried on in depths varying from ."JO 

 to SO fathoms, 5 to 25 miles from the land, but generally outside of 15 

 miles. For about a week the Concord fished alongside of the ice floe, , 

 which was distant I'rom the vessel from 2 to 4 niiles. Trials were made | 

 along the coast for a distance of about 180 miles, but most of the hali- 

 but were caught in the vicinity of Cape iN^orth. The fishing ground is j 

 so extensive, however, that Captain Dago says he seldom saw the other j, 

 two American schooners. This was due, in a measure, to the preva- ji 

 lence of thick weather for a considerable i)ortion of the time. He re- n 

 ports seeing a fleet of about 40 French topsail schooners, of the old- I 

 style type, ranging from 80 to 130 tons, a few ketch-rigged French ves- i 

 sels, 50 to 70 tons, and a suiall fleet, say 15 to 20, of English ketch- '| 



