22 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



across the mouths of tidal rivers, the schools of scup so thick that the> 

 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 aud 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 Eiver 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. 33G0 et seq., 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 1870, with 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 

 aud 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 e.stimate of 

 the yield of the distant fisheries, prosecuted in vessels aud from the 

 ports of the United States. The report of the Washington Bureau of 

 Statistics for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, enumerates : 



rounds. 



Codfish 71,1373,900 



Mackerel 30,542,500 



Herring 22,328,700 



Other fish : 11,503,540 



Fresh fish, not cured 99,077,911 



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 



