DESPATCHES, REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.- 325 



To take any action looking to a restriction upon Canadian vessels 

 in the use of purse seines, while those of the United States continue 

 fishing operations therewith, would be manifestly unjust, and it was 

 therefore deemed expedient to seek joint action on the part of the 

 Governments of the United States and of Canada, having in view 

 the abrogation of this mode of fishing to which may be directly 

 traced the well nigh destruction of our valuable mackerel fishery. 



On the 22nd. May 1890 the following minute of the Privy Council 

 was adopted, based upon your report, dealing with the whole ques- 

 tion, and as directed by this minute, the subject was brought to the 

 notice of the Government of the United States through the usual 

 official channel : 



On a report dated 24th April 1890, from the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, 

 stating that the records of the Department of Fisheries are replete with re- 

 iterated complaints against the use of purse seines for the capture of mackerel, 

 on account of their destructive nature. 



The Minister observes that the principal arguments against this particular 

 form of fishing engine are that a vast and alarming numbers of young and 

 unmerchantable fish are destroyed, and while they at the period of destruction 

 are of no commercial value, yet if allowed to remain in the water they would 

 in course of time mature and keep up the supply of this fish. The effect of 

 the purse seines upon the fish when schooling is to break up the schools : ren- 

 dering the fish wild and shy, keeping them constantly on the move and fre- 

 quently causing them to disappear for a long time. 



The Minister further observes that the Purse Seine is very fully described in 

 Professor Brown Goode and associate's report as follows : 



" The large seine used only in connection with the largest kind of seine boat 

 is 190 to 225 fathoms in length, and 20 to 35 fathoms in depth when it is hung,- 

 being deeper in the center of the bunt than at the extreme wings, one of which, 

 the ' boat end,' is from one to 10 fathoms deep, and the other, the ' dory end,' 

 varies from about 7 to 15 fathoms in depth. It is made of three kinds of twine. 

 The bailing piece, which is a section of the net occupying about 10 or 12 

 fathoms along the centre of the cork line, and having about the same depth as 

 length, is made of the stoutest twine. Beneath this and composing the re- 

 mainder of the bunt and extending to the bottom of the seine is a section knit 

 of twine a size smaller. There is also a band of large twine 15 meshes 

 196 in depth, extending along the cork line of the seine on either side of the 

 ' bailing piece ' to the extremity of each wing. The remainder of the net 

 is made of smaller twine. 



"A seine 300 fathoms in length is usually about 1,000 meshed deep, both in 

 the bunt and in the wings. The strongest twine is placed at those points where 

 the seine is subjected to the greatest strain. On the cork line are two or three 

 sizes of corks, the largest being placed over the ' bailing piece,' the smallest 

 generally at the ends of the wings. The cork in the middle of the seine is much 

 larger than the rest, and is painted or covered with canvas in order that it may 

 be easy to find the centre of the net either night or day. To one end of the cork- 

 line at the upper corner of the wing which is first thrown out when the seine is 

 set, is a buoy. The seine is hung to lines which are called the hanging lines. 

 The lead line is placed as in an ordinary seine, and is weighted with sinkers 

 about two ounces in weight, which are attached to it at intervals varying from 

 a few inches to several feet. The arrangement of the pursing rings and bridle 

 is described elsewhere. In a mackerel seine of 175 fathoms the bridles are 

 about 15 to 18 feet in length, and the rings, which weigh 1 Ibs. and are three 

 inches in diameter, are fastened to the middle of each bridle. The middle ring 

 is on the bottom of seine, opposite the middle cork already referred to, and is 

 usually made of different metal from the other rings, or is larger, so that the 

 center of the bottom of the seine can be easily found. Small galvanized-iron 

 blocks or pulleys are now used to a considerable extent instead of rings, and 

 are found much better adapted for the purpose, since the purse line runs far 

 easier through them. The purse-line extends through the rings, its centre is 

 marked by a line tied around or tucked through its strands, but more frequently 

 now by a brass swivel, into which the purse line is spliced, and which serves 

 the double purpose of marking the centre of the line and preventing it from 

 kinking." 



92909 S. Doc. 870, 61-3, vol 7 26 



