AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 1277 



3. I am very well acquainted with the cod fishery, and I am of opinion 

 that the Americans could not carry on the cod fishery profitably without 

 resorting to our shores for bait. 



4. The system of trawling followed by the American cod fishermen is 

 most destructive to the fishery. A great many fish are uselessly 

 destroyed by this system of fishing. 



5. The mackerel fishery on our shores is likely to be greatly injured 

 by the practice of seining used by the United States fishermen. Quan- 

 tities of small mackerel and herring are destroyed in this way. 



6. In 1873 I fished for mackerel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in an 

 American vessel, from the 20th of July to the 20th of October. We got 

 500 barrels. 



rHILIP DIGGDON. 



The said Philip Diggdon was sworn to the truth of this affidavit 

 at Port Mulgrave, in the county of Guysborough, this 30th day of July, 

 A. D. 1877, before me. 



JAMES PURCELL, 

 A Justice of the Peace. 



No. 156. 



In the matter of the Fisheries Commission at Halifax, under the Treaty 



of Washington. 



I, MICHAEL MCDONALD, of Whitehaven, in the county of Guysbor- 

 ough, fisherman, make oath and say as follows : 



1. I have been engaged in fishing for thirty years, and during three 

 of these years I fished with the American fishermen in American ves- 

 sels. 



2. We never carried any fresh bait from the United States, but al- 

 ways bought it in the British Provinces. Even if we took it from the 

 United States it would not be fit to use when we got to the fishing 

 grounds. 



3. The American fishermen with whom I was engaged fished for mack- 

 erel and cod. Trawls were used for the cod-fishing. 



4. 1 have seen as many as three hundred American mackerel-fishing 

 vessels in North Bay in the one season. Each vessel would average 

 fourteen men. They would make from two to four trips per season. 

 They were able to make this number of trips by having the privilege of 

 landing their fares of fish and getting refitted. Without this privilege 

 they could not make more than from one to two trips per season ; 

 oftener one than two. I have known one vessel to catch two thousand 

 barrels of mackerel per season. It would be considered a very poor 

 season if each vessel did not got 700 or 800 barrels. 



5. I never knew of any American vessels landing for the benefit of the 

 inhabitants. They always do it for their own advantage, and not that 

 of the people with whom they deal. They buy and trade- because they 

 save time ; buy cheaper than they can in their own markets, and be 

 thus able to fish longer and watch the best chances. The American 

 vessels by buying ice in Canada save one-fifth in quantity, and get the 

 ice from one to two dollars cheaper per ton than they can in the United 

 States. The way the one-fifth in quantity is saved is, that if the ice is 

 got in the United States, one-fifth of it would melt during the passage 

 down. 



6. If the Americans could not laud, &c., and enjoy the privileges 



