AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 1605 



shore. In October the boats sometimes go off more than three miles 

 from land. Fully two-thirds of the mackerel are caught within three 

 miles from the shore, and all are caught within what is known as the 

 three-mile limit; that is, within a line drawn between two points taken 

 three miles off the North Cape and east point of this island." (McNeill, 

 p. 42.) We will have this evidence accurately, because I think it sheds 

 considerable light on the subject. "That nine-tenths of our mackerel 

 are caught within one and one-half miles from the shore, and I may say 

 the whole of them are caught within three miles of the shore." (McLeod, 

 p. 228.) Somewhere the expression " not one barrel in five thousand " 

 occurs. It is in one of those affidavits ; perhaps in the first one. I have 

 read the passage, so as to do no injustice to the statement of the wit- 

 ness. 



Mr. Hall testified that for a month before the day of his testimony, 

 that is to say, after about the first week in September, no mackerel were 

 caught within five or six miles of the shore ; and he applied that state- 

 ment to the specimen mackerel which were brought here for our inspec- 

 tion and our taste; and Mr. Myrick, from Rustico, told the same story. 

 Moreover, all their witnesses, in speaking of the prosperity of the fish- 

 ing business of the island, which has been dwelt upon and dilated upon 

 1 so much, speak of the fact that not only are the boats becoming more 

 | numerous, but they build them larger every year longer, deeper, and 

 bigger boats why ? To go farther from the shore. So said Mr. Churchill. 

 I call that a pretty decisive test of the question, what proportion of ttie 

 mackerel is caught within three miles of the shore. What does Professor 

 I Hind say on that subject? In the report that has been furnished us, he 

 says (page 90) : 



Mackerel-catching is a special industry, and requires sea-going vessels. The boat 

 , equipment so common throughout British American waters is wholly unsuited to the 



pursuit of the mackerel, which has been so largely carried on by the United States fish- 

 ; ermen. Immense schools of mackerel are frequently left unmolested in the gulf and 



cm the coasts of Newfoundland, in consequence of the fishermen being unprovided with 



suitable vessels and fishing gear. It is, however, a reserve for the future, which at no 



distant day will be utilized. 



Then he goes on to remark that the use of the telegraph is likely to 

 become of great value in connection with these fisheries. 



Xow, is there any explanation of these statements, except that the 

 bulk of the mackerel are caught more than three miles off, in the body 

 of the gulf? If it is a " special industry," to which boats are wholly 

 ; unsuited, can it possibly be true that a great proportion of the fish is 

 caught within three miles of the shore ? How can you account for these 

 statements of their scientific witness in his elaborate report, except by 

 the fact that he knows that the mackerel fishery is so large a part of it, 

 a fishery more than three miles off the coast, that it can profitably be 

 pursued only in vessels ? 



There are two other things, that lie beyond the range of controversy, to 

 which I wish to call your attention. In the first place, there is a statement 

 made by the United States consul at Prince Edward Island, J. H. Sher- 

 man, back in 1864, in a communication to the Secretary of State at 

 Washington, long before any question of compensation had arisen a 

 .confidential communication to his own government, by a man who had 

 every opportunity to observe and no motive to mislead. He was writing 

 with reference to the value of the inshore fisheries, and the statement so 

 perfectly corresponds with what I believe to be the real truth, that I 

 desire to read it. 



Th Reciprocity Treaty seems to have been an unalloyed boon to the colony. 

 Ihe principal benefit that was expected to accrue to the United States by its operation 



