536 MISCELLANEOUS 



Gut of Canso, that among 135 vessels of the American mackerel fleet 

 which were casually spoken at that port in 1873, the names of which 

 he gives, there were 33 having over 300 barrels apiece, 55 having over 

 400 barrels each, 28 having over 500 barrels each, 12 having over 

 600 barrels each, and 7 having over 700 barrels apiece. Probably 

 these were not the largest fares secured, as the vessels were reported 

 before the fall fishery (usually the best) had taken place. In the 

 year 1874, 164 United States "fishing-vessels took, at the east point 

 of Prince Edward Island, 383 barrels per vessel. The catch of 

 mackerel in that season by the island fishermen, who are few in num- 

 bers, and fish mostly in open boats and with seines, was altogether 

 inshore, and amounted to 27,317 barrels. 



We may confidently state that, at a very moderate computation, 

 each American fishing-vessel frequenting British waters obtains, 

 through the privileges conferred by the treaty, a catch of at least 

 300 barrels of mackerel alone, worth $12 per barrel, at each trip, 

 or a gross value of $3,600 per vessel. 



The proportion of codfish taken and forming a part of the mixed 

 fares would be comparatively small when distributed among a large 

 number of vessels fishing principally for mackerel and herring. It 

 is estimated that vessels fishing for cod, herring, and other fish dur- 

 ing the intervals of mackereling usually take, of herring, 300 barrels; 

 codfish, 100 quintals; halibut, 200 quintals; haddock, pollack, and 

 hake, 100 quintals, and bait-fishes (exclusive of herring, used fresh), 

 $200 worth, each vessel averaging about $2,000 worth in all. Many 

 of these vessels, or others of smaller tonnage, are engaged in fish- 

 ing around the western coasts of Nova Scotia and in the Bay of 

 Fundy, both before and after their regular voyages to the eastern 

 and Gulf fishing grounds. But the maximum number of vessels 

 and the value of catch reckoned in this claim, for the purpose of 

 stating a basis of computation, without prejudice, however, to what- 

 ever addition to the number of vessels engaged and the quantity 

 and value of fish caught may be substantiated in further evidence, 

 does not specifically include the catch of those smaller vessels which 

 are constantly occupied in the inshore fishings of the western coasts 

 of the maritime provinces for other kinds besides mackerel. This 

 reservation is necessarily due, if not to the moderation of the claim 

 involved, at all events to the obvious difficulty of ascertaining with 

 exactness the movements and operations of a fleet of foreign vessels, 

 of varied tonnage, numbering between 1,000 and 3,000, besides the 

 many small boats attached, which are continually moving about 

 in different and distant localities, or frequenting throughout each 

 season the countless indentations of a sinuous coast nearly 4,000 miles 

 in linear extent. 



In recapitulation of the above, it is estimated that each United 

 States fishing-vessel will, on a moderate computation, take within 

 British Canadian waters $3,600 worth of mackerel, and $2,000 worth 

 of other fish; or a total of $5,600 worth of fish of all kinds as an 

 average for each trip. This estimate is, however, made, as stated 

 in the case of the number of vessels engaged, without prejudice to 

 any larger catch per vessel, which we may be able to substantiate 

 in evidence before the Commission. 



Third. The estimated amount of capital embarked in this business 

 by United States citizens exceeds $7,000,000. Mr. Lorenzo Sabine, 



