1746 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



bulk of the tish ing is located; and we were granted the right to fish 

 over 3,500 miles of sea-coasts, where no fishing is done, of any conse- 

 quence, by the Americans themselves, and where no British subject has 

 ever been seen. (As to area, see Prof. Hind's paper, page VII.) In this 

 instance the Americans cannot contrast the good will of the Imperial 

 Government with the illiberality of the colonists, because the latter were 

 represented in the Joint High Commission by their first minister, who 

 assented to the treaty, and the Dominion Parliament, and the legislatures 

 of Prince Edward Island, and of Newfoundland, equally assented, 

 through solemn parliamentary acts. 



In dealing with the value and extent of the North British-American 

 coast fisheries, I think I may, with all safety, say, that in the waters 

 surrounding the three-mile limits there is no deep-sea fisheries at all. 

 The assertion may appear hazardous to our American friends, but I am 

 sure they will agree with me when I remind them of the whole bearing 

 of their own evidence. No doubt their witnesses have made use of the 

 words deep-sea fisheries in contradistinction to the shore fisheries proper; 

 but is there one of their witnesses who has ever pretended to have caught 

 fish in any place other than banks, when it was not inshore ? 



The whole of the witnesses on both sides have testified that when they 

 were not fishinginshore they were fishing around Magdalen Islands, which 

 is another shore, on Orphan, Bradley, or Miscou, or other Banks; but as 

 regards a deep-sea fishery in contradistinction to banks or shore fishery, 

 there is no such thing in the whole evidence. 



Sir ALEXANDER GALT. Are you now referring to the fisheries gen- 

 erally, or to the mackerel fishery in particular? 



Mr. DOUTRE. To the cod fishery also. Codfish is taken on banks. 



Mr. DANA. It is a question of names what you call a bank fishery. 



Mr. DOUTRE. Is not the result of the whole evidence, on both sides, 

 that fish is to be found on the coast, within a few miles, or on banks, 

 and nowhere else? This is the practical experience of all fishermen. 

 Now, science explains why it is so. That class of evidence is unanimous 

 on this most important particular, namely, as to the temperature neces- 

 sary to the existence of the cold-water fish in commercial abundance, 

 such as the cod and its tribe, the mackerel and the herring, which in- 

 clude all the fish valuable to our commerce. According to the evidence 

 I shall quote, the increasing warmth of the coastal waters of the United 

 States as summer advances, drives the tish off the coast south of New 

 England into the deep sea, and puts a stop to the summer fishing for these 

 t\h on those parts of the coast in the United States a condition of things 

 due to the shoreward swing of the Gulf Stream there. On the other 

 band, it is stated that on the coasts of British America, where the Arctic 

 current prevails, the fish come inshore during the summer months, and 

 retire to the deep sea in the winter months. 



Professor Baird says, on page 455 of his evidence before the Commis- 

 mon, speaking of the codfish in answer to the question put by Mr. Dana, 

 >> hat do you say of their migrations F 



Answer. The cod is a fish the migrations of which cannot be followed readily, because it 

 ih and does not show on the surface, as the mackerel and herring; but so far 

 we can ascertain, there is a partial migration, at least some of the fish don't seem to re- 

 name localities the year round. They change their situation in search of food, 

 uofutnc* of the variation* in the temperature, the percentage of salt in the water, or 

 <T cause. In the south of New England, south of Cape Cod, the fishing is largely 

 I hat is to say, the tish are all the coast in the cooler water in the summer, 

 e temperature tails approaching autumn, and the shores are cooled down to a cer- 

 degrt-e, they come in and are taken within a few miles of the coast. In the northern 

 S as far M I can understand from the writings of Professor Hind, the fish generally go 

 ; in the winter time, excepting on the south side of Newfoundland, where, I am in- 



