1354 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



they appear in less quantities, in Pleasant Bay. They have never yet 

 failed to come every year. The time of fishing mackerel extends from 

 the 10th to the end of June that is, mackerel-fishing by means of nets 

 in Pleasant Bay. They are then, in the beginning of this fishery, full 

 of spawn ; towards the end of this fishery a great number have spawned, 

 as we find their bodies empty of the spawn ; but still some have retained 

 it to deposit it a little later. When we begin to fish for mackerel with 

 hook and bait we no longer find them full of spawn, they are then 



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

 edge and belief correct. 



his 

 SIXTE + LAFRANCE. 



maik. 



Witness: 



JOHN GALT. 



The said Sixte Lafrance has sworn to the truth of the above affidavit, 

 at Amherst Harbor, Magdalen Islands, this twenty-first (21st) day of 

 August, A. D. 1S77, before me. 



P. FOETIX, J. P. 



Xo. 220. 



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



of Washington. 



I, GABRIEL CORMIER, of Amherst Harbor, Amherst Island, Magda- 

 len Islands, county of Gasp6, Province of Quebec, make oath and say 

 as follows : 



1. I am 77 years of age. I was born here and have lived here all my 

 life. I fished from the age of 15 till about eight years ago, around the 

 Magdalen Islands, at Auticosti, on the north shore of the gulf, from 

 Natashquan to Blanc Sablon, and for tbe last 7 years I have confined 

 myself to fish in Pleasant Bay and off the neighboring shore. I am 

 well acquainted with all the fisheries carried on at the above-named 

 places; they are cod, herring, mackerel, and halibut. 



2. As soon as the ice disappears from the shores of these islands, her- 

 ring are seen in great abundance, coming close to the shore for the pur- 

 pose of spawning. They spawn in Amherst Harbor and all the islands. 

 I have seen the eggs of the herring on the flats near the shores, every- 

 where around the islands. They spawn in a depth of one foot to two or 

 three fathoms, and during the spawning season, that is during May, the 

 sea gets white, as far as we can see, in Pleasant Bay, towards House 

 Harbor and in Amherst Harbor with the milt of the male fish. In July 

 we begin to see the herring-fry, half an inch long, with large heads and 

 eyes. In September they are about two inches long, and begin to be 

 Hhaped like the adult herring. In October they are about three inches 

 long, and we use them then as bait for the codfish. We take those little 

 herring with dip-nets along the shore, and sometimes we find enough 

 in the stomach of the codfish taken to serve us as a bait for the whole 

 day. Since I first commenced fishing, I have never seen the herring 

 fail in Pleasant Hay or round these islands. They always come to 

 spawn, though sometimes in greater numbers than others. There is no 

 place in the gulf or on the coasts of the maritime provinces, as far as I 



