1108 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



sell their fish " to arrive." Under ordinary circumstances, I should say 

 that the right of landing their fish, instead of taking them to the States 

 iii their own vessels, \\ould be a saving of a fortnight each trip. They 

 used to make two trips a summer. 



SEBtf. DAVIDSON. 



Sworn to at Tignish, in Prince County, in Prince Edward Island, this 

 27th day of June, A. D. 1877, before me. 



JOSEPH MAcGILVKAY, 

 J. P. for Prince County, Prince Edward Island. 



No. 12. 



I, WILLIAM CHAMPION, of Cascumpec, in Prince County, Prince 

 Edward Island, fisherman and fish-dealer, make oath and say : 



1. I have been engaged in fishing for over ten years in both boats and 

 schooners, one summer of which time I fished on board the American 

 schooner Banner, of Belfast, Me. 



2. There are fifty boats, I should say, fishing out of this harbor (Cas- 

 cumpec) at the present time. The number has trebled in the last ten 

 years. But Kildare, Tiguish, Mimnigash, Nail Pond, and that way 

 generally, the number has increased at a greater rate than here. The 

 boats themselves are also very much better than they were some years 

 ago. The number is still increasing ; has increased ten boats this spring 

 in this harbor alone. 



3. The average catch of mackerel for each boat is about seventy-five 

 barrels, and about fifty quintals of codfish, and the same of hake. 



4. Each boat carries on an average a crew of four men. 



5. The boats fish along the shores, mainly within three miles of the 

 shore. There are about nine-tenths of the mackerel caught by the boats 

 caught within three miles of the shore; the best ground is within that 

 distance. About two-thirds of the codfish and half the hake caught in 

 boats are caught within three miles of the shore ; in fact, the best ground 

 for the two last-mentioned fish is about three miles out or thereabouts. 

 Down eastward on this island, and about Port Hood, Autigouish, Cape 

 George, and other places in that direction, the boats, and also the Ameri- 

 can schooners, fish close inshore. 



6. I fished two summers in an island schooner, and one in the Ameri- 

 can Banner ; the Banner was about eighty tons burden ; I was fishing in 

 her the year the cutters were around for four months ; we had a license 

 to fish, so the cutters did not disturb us. She carried a crew of six- 

 teen hands; we caught four hundred barrel of mackerel, of which we 

 transshipped three hundred at Charlottetown ; we were only three days 

 out of the bay lauding and transshipping the fish, and saved more than 

 a fortnight in time. 



7. The year I was in the Banner she and other American vessels used 

 often to drift down on the boats, and used often to "lee-bow" them, 

 thowing out bait, and taking the fish away ; there were about four hun- 

 dred Americans fishing that year; we fished right up in the Bay Cha- 

 leur and around the other shores of the provinces ; there were also a 

 great many seiners out that year. 



8. The average number of the American fleet each year is between 

 four and live hundred. They catch on an average between five and six 

 hundred barrels of mackerel each ; the Americans fish as a rule near 

 the shores; I do not think it would be worth their while to come down 

 to fish unless allowed to fish within three miles of the shore ; the 



