180 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Q. Why is it not used here ? — A. I don't know except that they have other bait 

 that they get at more readily, and they have not learned how to use this. 



Q. But it is very abundant? — A. Yes; quite as abundant as it is anywhere. This 

 is a rather small specimen. The advantage of this kiud of bait is that it can be kept 

 alive for a long time merely by moistening it or keeping it in water, so there is no 

 question about salting it or using ice or any other application. 

 By Sir Alexaxder Galt : 



Q. Is there any particular locality for that? — A. It is extremely abundant all through 

 the northern seas. I am a little surprised that I have not seen more of them here. 

 It is a northern shell. I presume it is very abundant in Newfoundland, and to the 

 north. At any rate it is in any desired abundance in the Bay of Fundy, but not south 

 of Cape Cod. 



Q. From nil you have learned, have you any doubt that, supposing the fishermen 

 of the United States were precluded from using any bait except what could be got 

 upon their own coast, they could obtain a sufficient supply there ? — Ao Well, unless 

 the American fishery should bo expanded to verj r enormous limits, far in excess of what 

 it is now, I can't see that there would be any difficulty. I may refer to one bait at 

 our command, which is an excellent bait — salt liver. Insome parts that is considered 

 an excellent bait. Of course each part of the world swears by its own particular bait. 

 While the Cape Cod man swears by menhaden, the Newfoundlander by herring and 

 caplin, and the Englishman by winkles, the Dutchman swears by salt liver. 



Q. We could have that, of course. — A. Yes. Then the roes of cod are good for bait. 



Q. What do you say about gurry ? We had a good deal about that in the early part 

 of this inquiry. Be so good as to tell what opinion you have or what conclusion you 

 have come to about its use and abuse. — A. It hardly applies to cod any more than to 

 any other fish cleaned at sea. The gurry is the offal, and that of course may be of 

 salmon or cod or haddock or mackerel. The practice of throwing overboard gurry is 

 in many respects reprehensible, because i n the first place it is a very great waste of an- 

 imal matter. The applicability of this offal to commercial purposes is such that when- 

 ever it can be had in sufficient quantities it should be utilized. It is so on the coast 

 of Norway, An enormous number of pounds of fertilizer are made out of the gurry, 

 and the heads are dried and used for food for dogs and cattle. I i>resume you refer, 

 however, to the supposed influence of the gurry on the fishing-grounds, more partic- 

 ularly. Well, in the first place, more of it can be used now. In the process of hard 

 freezing applied to cod it is brought in more as a fresh fish. But a large proportion 

 of what is thrown overboard can be utilized. It can all be utilized, and it would be 

 very proper, I think, to impose some penalty upon the waste of the gurry by throw- 

 ing it overboard, in favor of securing its preservation and utilization. But of course 

 the question is as to what influence tho gurry can exercise upon the sea fishery, sup- 

 posing it to be abundant and to be thrown overboard. I have no practical experi- 

 ence in regard to that. T know a great many persons testify that it is very objection- 

 able. Tho reason why I should be inclined to attribute very little importance to the 

 objection is the readiness with which all such offal is consumed in the sea by the scav- 

 engers appointed by nature to destroy it. In the northern seas, where codfish are 

 most abundant and this gurry is in the greatest abundance, the waters abound w T ith 

 countless numbers of minute crustaceans whose business it is to destroy animal mat- 

 ter. The so-called sea fleas are so active that if you take a fish the size of a codfish 

 and put it in a bag of net- work and put it overboard where it will be exposed for a 

 tide in water of anywhere from five to ten or twenty fathoms, you will find, as a gen- 

 eral rule, that next day you will have the bones picked clean and a perfect skeleton 

 without a single particle of flesh. I have had thousands of skeletons (I may say lit- 

 erally so) of fishes and birds and small quadrupeds prepared for museum purposes by 

 simply exposing them to the action of the sea fleas. I have put them in bags perfo- 

 rated with holes and left them at the edge of low tide for a tide or two, and the skel- 

 eton would be perfectly complete without a bit of meat left, 



