290 LABRADOR 



Jersey and American firms who, years ago, conducted large 

 operations on the coast, had to give them up, owing to the 

 scarcity of fish; that well-off families have fallen into pov- 

 erty and want, and that many have left the coast ; that float- 

 ing craft have to keep going farther and farther afield; 

 that large bays, which attracted settlers on account of the 

 local abundance of cod, are now deserted ; that some places 

 along the Labrador fail every year nowadays ; that, not- 

 withstanding the large mesh now compelled by government, 

 the fish taken are now of smaller average size than formerly ; 

 that the catch is not proportionate to the increased outfit ; 

 and that the bank fisheries have been depleted both abso- 

 lutely and relatively. The pessimists argue further that 

 the cod-fishery runs risk of approaching the failures recorded 

 for the lobster, salmon, seal, and even the trout, all of which 

 have been signally depleted by man ; the whales and whalers 

 are steadily diminishing. Walrus has been banished from 

 the Labrador. All along the Labrador there are bullies 

 and fishing-boats, once in regular use, now lying up and 

 rotting on the shore. 



That the government once leaned to this view was shown 

 by the establishment of a codfish hatchery in Newfound- 

 land, not for biological experiment, but for hatching young 

 fish for restocking the bays. Subsequently, under Sir 

 William Whiteway, the hatchery was closed down. Some 

 fishermen thought the plan a success ; others thought it a 

 failure. 



In judging the case, the obvious precaution must be taken 

 that too much reliance be not placed on the testimony of 

 a few individual captains; as the number of men and 

 amount of capital engaged in the industry increase, the 



