790 APPENDIX TO BRITISH CASE. 



X. THE CHARACTER AND VALUE OF THE FISHERIES ON THE COAST OF 

 LABRADOR AND THE BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND THE INCREASING 

 DEMAND FOR FOOD-FISHES TO SUPPLY THE WANTS OF THE PEOPLE. 



The inshore fishing along the coast of Labrador are the best we 

 have in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while that along the southern and 

 western shores of Newfoundland is far better than any along the 

 coasts of Novia Scotia or New Brunswick. 



Our plenipotentiaries who negotiated the treaty of 1818 mention 

 these facts to show that we lost nothing of value when we gave up the 

 inshore fisheries of Nova Scotia, and gained much advantage by hav- 

 ing access to the shores of Labrador, as will hereafter appear in this 

 report. 



Mr. Sabine, in his report to the Secretary of the Treasury, in 1852, 

 gives a very interesting account of the fisheries on the northeastern 

 coast, from which we make the following extracts, found in Senate 

 Ex. Doc. 22, second session Thirty-second Congress : 



An account of the fishing-grounds has been reserved for the conclusion. Of 

 those near our cities, and visited for the purpose of supplying our markets with 

 fish to be consumed fresh, it is unnecessary to speak. Those within the limits 

 of British America, and secured to us by treaty, as well as those on the eastern 

 coasts of Maine, are less generally known and may properly claim attention. 

 Of the distant, Newfoundland is the oldest. That vessels from Boston fished 

 there as early as the year 1645 is a fact preserved in the journal of Governor 

 Winthrop. The " great bank," which has been so long resorted to, is said to 

 be about 200 miles broad and nearly 600 miles long. In gales the sea is very 

 high, and dense fogs are prevalent. The water is from 25 to 95 fathoms deep. 

 The edges of the bank are abrupt and composed of rough rocks. The best fish- 

 ing-grounds are between the latitudes of 42 and 46 north. The " bankers." as 

 the vessels employed there are called, anchor in the open sea, at a great 

 distance from the land, and pursue their hazardous and lonely employment, ex- 

 posed to perils hardly known elsewhere. The fish are caught with hooks and 

 lines, and (the operations of splitting and dressing performed) are salted in 

 bulk in the hold, from day to day, until the cargo is completed. The bank fish 

 are larger than those taken on the shores of Newfoundland, but are not often 

 so well cured. The first American vessel which was fitted for the Labrador 

 fishery sailed from Newburyport toward the close of the last century. The 

 business, once undertaken, was pursued with great energy, and several hundred 

 vessels were engaged in it annually previous to the war of 1812. A voyage to 

 Labrador, unlike a trip to the Banks of Newfoundland, is not without pleasant 

 incidents, even to landsmen. The coast is frequented for a distance of 10 

 or 12 degrees of latitude. It has been preferred to any other on account of its 

 security and a general certainty of affording a supply of fish. Arriving in 

 some harbour early in June, an American vessel is moored and remains quietly 

 at anchor until a full "fare" has been obtained, or until the departure of the 

 fish requires the master to seek another inlet. 



The fishing is done entirely in boats, and the number usually employed is one 

 for about 30 tons of the vessel's register. Here, under the management of an 

 experienced and skilful master, everything may be rendered systematic and 

 regular. As soon as the vessel has been secured by the necessary anchors, 

 her sails and light rigging are stowed away. 1 er decks cleared, her boats fitted, 

 and a day or two spent in fowling and sailii'g, under color of exploring the sur- 

 rounding waters and fixing upon proper stations for the boats, and the master 

 announces to his crew that they must try their luck with the hook and line. 

 Each boat has now assigned to it a skipper or master, and one man. At the 

 time designated, the master departs with his boats, to test the qualities of his 

 men. and to mark out for them a course for their future procedure. 



Nothing could be more injurious to men, who are brought into 

 such intimate association by their common right of fishing on those 

 distant shores, than a policy of their governments which would cause 

 them to make reprisals, the stronger against the weaker. 



