1304 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



We have also fishing establishments at Cape de Rosier, Griffin's Cove, 

 Fox River, Claridorme, Grande Vallee, Mont Louis, and Gaspe Basin, 

 all in the county of Gaspe. We have also several fishing establish- 

 ments in New Brunswick. 



2. I am practically acquainted with all that relates to the catching 

 and curing of fish, as well as to the nature of the fish required for the 

 different foreign markets. 



3. The principal fisheries of this coast from Gaspe Bay to St. Anne 

 des Monts are the cod, halibut, mackerel, and herring. 



4. The cod is quite as plenty now as when [ first came on the coast, 

 though the quantity may vary each year. This year the fish are in un- 

 usually good condition. 



5. Halibut were plentiful all along this south coast of the St. Law- 

 rence when I first came here, especially at Grand Vallee and Magdalene 

 River; now the quantity is very small indeed. I attribute this de- 

 struction of the halibut fishery to the exhaustive fishing of the Ameri- 

 cans with their numerous and large trawls. All these halibut and 

 other fish are taken close along shore, within the three-mile limit. 



6. In the year I860 and following years up to 1868, during the Reci- 

 procity Treaty and two years of licenses, at least one hundred American 

 mackerel schooners fished for mackerel along this bay and coast with 

 seines and bobs. I have seen them seining in the harbor of Gasp e", in- 

 side of Sandy Beach. These vessels were from 70 to 150 tons, having 

 from 15 to 20 men each. They generally loaded, and would average 

 from 600 to 800 barrels. 



7. The herring fishery is as good as usual. This spring they were 

 very plentiful. 



8. The right of fishing on the American coast is of no use to us. We 

 have as much as we can do on our own coast. Our fishermen would not 

 go there; and the fact that so many Americans come to our waters to 

 fish, leads us to believe that they have not fish nearer home. 



9. The free market of the United States is not of any benefit to us. 

 I have never shipped fish to the United States, and I do not know of 

 any other merchant from this coast who has. Our fish is prepared in a 

 peculiar manner for the Brazilian, West India, and Mediterranean mar- 

 kets, where it commands a higher price than other fish. 



10. Without the permission to fish in the inshore waters, and to get 

 bait along shore, no foreign or other vessel could make a successful fish- 

 ing voyage. 



11. I am most decidedly of the opinion that our inshore fisheries 

 should be kept exclusively to ourselves. Our fishing population is in- 

 creasing, and will require the use exclusively of our own fisheries. Xo 

 indemnity that we may receive will be an equivalent for the loss caused 

 to us by granting the use of our inshore fisheries to foreigners; and if 

 the Americans come here in greater numbers, many of our fishermen 

 will have to emigrate from the coast. 



I hereby swear that the above statement is, to the best of my knowl- 

 edge and belief, correct. 



J. M. LUCE. 



The said John M. Luce has sworn to the truth of the above affidavit, 

 at Grande Greve, in the county of Gaspe, this 10th day of August, A. 

 D. 1877, before me. 



P. FORTIX, J. P. 



