AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 1G07 



weeks, and had never been within ten miles of the shore." I am inclined 

 to concede, for the purposes of the argument, that of the mackerel caught 

 by boats off the bend of Prince Edward Island, about one-third are taken 

 within three miles of the shore. I believe it to be a very liberal estimate, 

 and I have no idea that any such proportion was ever taken by a single 

 United States vessel fishing in that vicinity. I have already alluded to 

 the fact that the boat-fishing and the vessel-fishing are wholly different 

 things, and to the necessity of a vessel being able to raise a great body 

 of mackerel. Do you remember the testimony of Captain Ilurlbert, pilot 

 of the Speedwell, certainly one of the most intelligent and candid wit- 

 nesses that has appeared here ? He stated that you could not catch the 

 mackerel in any quantities on board vessels oft" the bend of the island, 

 because the water was not deep enough within three miles. Take the 

 chart used by Professor Hind in connection with his testimony, and see 

 within three miles of the shore how deep the water is. Ten to fifteen 

 fathoms is the depth as far out as three miles. You will hardly find 

 twenty fathoms of water anywhere within the three-mile zone. Captain 

 Hurlbert gave, with great truth, the reason for his opinion, that there was 

 not depth of water enough there to raise a body of mackerel necessary 

 for profitable vessel fishing. My brother Davies felt the force of that, 

 and cross examined him about the Magdalen Islands. I have been look- 

 ing at the chart of the Magdalen Islands, and I have also considered the 

 testimony as to the fishing in that vicinity. A great deal of the fishing 

 at the Magdalen Islands is done more than three miles from the shore. 

 The place where the best mackerel are taken, Bird Eocks, will be found 

 to have twenty fathoms of water within the three-mile limit. And when 

 you come to that locality, where I honestly believe a larger proportion of 

 mackerel are caught within three miles than anywhere else that is, off 

 Margaree, in the autumn you will find by the chart that the water 

 there is deep, and that twenty fathoms is marked for quite a distance 

 in a great many localities within three miles of the land. I have always 

 understood the Byron Islands and the Bird Rocks to be a part of the 

 Magdalen Islands, and they have always been so testified to by the 

 witnesses. When they have spoken of the Magdalen Islands, they have 

 included fishing in those two localities as within the Magdalen Islands 

 fisheries. In speaking of localities, they name the Bird Eock, but they 

 sp'eak of it as part of the Magdalen Islands. That particular question 

 of geography may deserve more attention hereafter. I cannot now pause 

 to consider it. 



Eight here let me read from an early report on this subject of fishing 

 inshore. Captain Fair, of Her Majesty's ship Champion, in 1839, says 

 that he passed through a fleet of six or seven hundred American vessels 

 in various positions, some within the headlands of the bays and some 

 along the shores, but none within the three-miles interdiction. While 

 cruising in the vicinity of Prince Edward Island, he states that there 

 was not " a single case which called for our interference or where it was 

 necessary to recommend caution; on the contrary, the Americans say 

 that a privilege has been granted them, and that they will not abuse it." 

 (Sabine's Eeport on the Fisheries, page 410.) 



There is something peculiar about this Prince Edward Island fishery 

 and its relative proportion to the Nova Scotia fishery. As I said before, 

 I am inclined to believe that the greatest proportion of mackerel caught 

 anywhere inshore is caught off' Margaree late in the autumn. The 

 United States vessels, on their homeward voyage, make harbor at Port 

 Hood, and lie there one or two weeks; while there, they do fish within 

 three miles of Margaree Island ; not between Margaree Island and the 



