AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 1411 



No. 275. 



In therna ter of tbe Fisheries Commission, at Halifax, under the Treaty 



of Washington. 



I, JOHN BETHELL, of West Barcrow, in the county of Shelburne 

 fisherman, make oath and say as follows : 



1. I have been engaged in taking fish for the last seven years inshore, bv 

 means of a trap set one hundred and fifty fathoms from the shore, low*, 

 water mark. We take in this trap all kinds of fish, principally mackerel, 

 pollock and herring. Last year we took one hundred quintals of had- 

 dock. We take in each year about five hundred barrels of both mack- 

 erel and herring. Out of this, on an average each year, there would be 

 one hundred and fifty barrels of mackerel. 



2. Last year I supplied thirty-three Canadian schooners with bait and 

 ice, besides supplying seventy-eight boats engaged in the inshore fish- 

 eries. The Canadian vessels took on an average of twelve dollars' worth 

 of baitto each vessel. Theboats takeon an averageof three dollars' worth 

 of bait. Last year we supplied about forty tons of ice to Canadian ves- 

 sels; this year about the same. Last year is about an average year's 

 supply to Canadian vessels and inshore boats. This year we would 

 have sold double of this supply to Canadian vessels if we had the bait. 

 During the past four years I have supplied on an average ten American 

 vessels. They took on an average between twenty and thirty dollars' 

 worth of bait. The Americans always are very anxious to get this bait, 

 and if they have bait they are almost always sure of fish. 



JOHN BETH ELL. 



Sworn before me this 29th day of August, A. D., 1877. 



D. SARGENT, 

 J. P. for the County of Shelburne. 



No. 276. 



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



of Washington. 



I, EDWARD D. TREMAIN, of Port Hood, in the county of Inverness, 

 collector of customs, make oath and say as follows: 



1. I have been, from information received from American fishermen 

 and otherwise, somewhat acquainted with the fisheries on the coast of 

 Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and the Magda- 

 len Islands for some years past. 



2. Among the last years of the Reciprocity Treaty, I believe that 

 about eight hundred American fishing-vessels were yearly engaged in 

 the fisheries along our coasts from the Strait of Canso northward, 

 should estimate the total tonnage of the American fleet in these waters 

 at that time to be over fifty thousand, and as many as ten thousand men 

 engaged. Their occupations embraced principally mackerel and codti 

 but I believe herring, haddock, hake, and halibut were also taken. 



3. The American fishermen begin to arrive on our coasts about 

 first of May each year, and continue their operations till about 

 tenth of November. Their vessels average about three trips per seaso 



4. American vessels were, under the said treaty, in the habit of 

 quentiug this locality for the purpose of lauding, procuring exl 

 obtaining sets of sails, getting men and outfits for extra trips, and t 



