210 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



islands and other places in this connection, I mentioned hanks off the coast of Labra- 

 dor, but I did not refer to the great sweep of northern waters where the cod is found 

 diffused. I referred more particularly to the places that are known and publicly 

 mentioned. What is not published in this regard I know nothing about. 



Q. With reference to Labrador, can you answer whether the fish are taken inshore — 

 that is, within the three-mile range, or on the Banks off-shore ? — A. I am told, but I 

 cannot say with what certainty, that at certain seasons of the year the cod are there 

 taken in great quantities inshore from boats, but that the great bodies of the fish are 

 on the Banks at some distance from the shore. 



Q. Are these Banks fished ? — A. That I cannot tell. 



Q. Where are these Banks ? — A. As far as I cau learn, they extend at a distance of 

 some 15 or 25 miles, perhaps, along almost the entire length of the coast of Labra- 

 dor. 



Q. Will you pledge yourself to that statement ? — A. No ; I know nothing about it. 



Q. From whom did you get this information ? — A. From the published writings of 

 Professor Hind. 



Q. I think he indicates in these writings the exact position of these Banks? — A. I 

 think that probably he does. I may have located them too near or too far from the 

 shore. I speak merely in general terms. 



Q. I think that this report only indicates the existence of banks on certain por- 

 tions of the coast of Labrador ? — A. Perhaps I may have made them too extensive. 



Q. You have referred to a bank on which codfish are taken, off Cape Cod, about 20 

 miles, I think, in length; can you give me any information as regards the annual 

 product of this bank ? — A. I think you will find that given in Captain Atwood's tes- 

 timony. 



Q. Can you give it ? — A. No ; I know nothing of it, except from Captain Atwood. 



Q. Is any report made in any public office in Massachusetts or the States, from 

 which you can gather information as regards the exact quantity of fish taken out- 

 side of the three-mile limit, and inside of this limit ? — A. No. 



Q. In other words, is a report concerning the quantity of fish taken within and 

 without this limit published? — A. No. 



Q. Is nothing published in this relation ?— A. It is my business, or my self-im- 

 posed mission to collect that information, and I am doing so as fast as I can. I hope 

 that my next report will contain a great deal of this and other useful information. 



Q. How many vessels are engaged in this fishery off Cape Cod ? — A. I cannot tell 

 you ; but I have a great deal of information on this subject in my records, which, 

 however, I do not carry with me, and I do not trust my memory for anything. 



Q. I think you referred to the herring fishery as yielding a very great quantity of 

 fish on the American coast ? — A. Yes. 



Q. On the coast of the United States ? — A. Yes. 



Q. And the coast of Massachusetts ? — A. Yes. 



Q. Is that yield so great as you mention, during the winter ? — A. It is during both 

 spring and fall. These fish are found all along the coast in the spring. 



Q. During what months is this the case in the spring ? — A. In April and May. 



Q. And in winter? — A. I do not think that they are caught in winter north of Cape 

 Cod ; I do not think bo ; but so little is known of the biology and the natural history 

 of herring that this might be the fact, and yet it be not known — I mean not known 

 to the ordinary public. It was entirely new to me five years a^o that herring 

 spawned on the Massachusetts coast at all. 



Q. Then there is no winter herring-fishery there ? — A. The winter fishery is a very 

 small one; it is carried on around Block Island and Narragansett Bay, but whether 

 capabilities exist for prosecuting a winter fishery elsewhere on the coast I cannot 

 nay. 



Q. How do you account thou for the fact that such a number of your vessels come 

 to the southern coast of Newfoundland for herring, if they are so prolific on your own 

 coast?— A. That I cannot say. Why trade follows one line or direction rather than 



