1436 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Sworn to at Kensington, in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, 

 this 14tb day of July, A. D. 1877, before me. 



THOMAS H. SIMS, 

 Justice of the Peace for Prince County. 



No. 304. 



I, JAMES MCDONALD, of Chepstow, in King's County, Prince Edward 

 Island, master-mariner, make oath and say : 



1. That I have been engaged in fishing in one way or another ever 

 since I was old enough to fish, in both boats and schooners; some of the 

 schooners belonged to this Island, and the rest of them belonged to the 

 United States. That I have been fishing in schooners for seventeen 

 years, and have fished all round this island, from North Cape to East 

 Point, and from Schimeuac to St. Annes, on the Canada shore, and then 

 to Seven Islands, the Labrador shore, up Bay Chaleur, Gaspe" Bay, and 

 all round the Magdalen Islands. 



2. That, taking one year with another, since I860, the average fleet of 

 American fishermen in the bay would be fully five hundred sail ; there 

 were not so many last year, but this year they are coining down again. 

 This year they are coming down seining. I was on board one this year, 

 and they had seines for both deep water and for shallow. 



3. That in the American schooners, in which I fished, we used to catch 

 on an average five hundred barrels of mackerel each year. I have fished 

 on both this shore and the American shore, and this is much better than 

 the American fishing. That two-thirds of the fish caught in American 

 and other schooners are caught within a mile and one-half from the 

 shore; the best fishing is generally closeinto the shore. I was master 

 of an American vessel about five years ago, and have sailed in Ameri- 

 cans as fisherman at other times. I have been part of three seasons fish- 

 ing on the American shores, and the other part fishing in the gulf, and 

 there are more mackerel in the gulf round our shores than there are 

 round the American shores. 



4. That in the spring of the year vessels from all parts go to the Mag- 

 dalen Islands to catch herring. I have been there often. It is the best 

 herring fishery in the gulf. There are Americans, Nova Scotians, and 

 others. There are, on an average, about two hundred sail of American 

 vessels getting herring down there every year. The herring are all 

 caught tight close in on the beach. There are large catches made there. 

 The Americans send a great part of these herrings to Sweden now, that 

 being their market. 



5. That in the fall of the year there are large numbers of vessels 

 down in Newfoundland, at Boone Bay and other places, getting herring. 

 There are about one hundred sail of American herring-fishermen which 

 go down to the northward of Newfoundland every fall. In the winter 

 about two hundred sail of Americans go down to Bay Fortune to get 

 herring to freeze for the New York and other markets. 



6. That the right of transshipment was of considerable advantage to 

 the Americans, as they could send their fish on in the steamers, without 

 having to go home in their own vessels with their fish, and they could 

 in this way save much time. They save about four weeks in this way, 

 which would be equal to a trip saved. They can also fit out here as 

 cheap, or cheaper, than they can at home. The great advantage is, 

 however, that it enables fishermen to watch and take advantage of the 

 markets; they can find out what the prices are, and sell their nsh "to 

 arrive." Iii the schooners in which I fished, we several times trans- 



