AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 1755 



Q. Are halibut caught on the shores of Gaspd and the Bay of Chaleurs ? A. They are 

 or have been caught there. 



Q. By whom is the halibut fishery carried on T A. Chiefly by the Americans. 



Q. And how are they caught f A. With trawls. 



Q. What effect has their mode of fishing had on the coast as a halibut-fishery ground T 



A. With regard to halibut, it has injured the fishery. 



Q. By what means? A. By overfishing. Halibut is a fish which does not reproduce 

 itself like the cod, and of course the fishing is thus affected and injured. 



Q. By whom has this overfishing been done ? A. By the Americans. 



Q. During how many years f A. It has been the case as long as I can remember ; that 

 is, from 1856 to the time when I left the north shore, in 1873. They have frequented the 

 coast from year to year. 



Q. Is the halibut fishery carried on now on the south shore T A. At present halibut are 

 very scarce there, but formerly they were very plentiful on this coast. 



Mr. John Holliday, who pursues the fishing business on an extensive 

 scale at the mouth of the Moisie Eiver, testified, in his examination by 

 Mr. Thomson, as follows : 



Q. Well, do you take no halibut or hake ? A. We take a few halibut, not of any great 

 moment, this year past. 



Q. Why is that ? It used to be plenty. A. They used to be, but since 1868 or 1869 the 

 coast is nearly cleaned of halibut by the American fishermen coming there. Two of them 

 were taken in my neighborhood ; that is, two of their vessels were taken by the cruisers. 



Q. What became of them ? A. I think they were both condemned. 



Q. Well, were those halibut taken within three miles of the shore! A. O, yes ; within 

 about a mile and a half of the shore. 



Q. There was no doubt, then, about the fact of the infringement of the law, for which 

 those vessels were taken ? A. I have seen several of them leave the coast and leave their 

 lines. When they saw the cruisers come they stood out to sea, and came back a day or 

 two afterward and picked up their lines. 



Q. That was within three miles ? A. Yes. 



Q. How near? A. About a mile and a half. 



Q. I do not know whether the atmosphere there is of that peculiar character that a ves- 

 sel within half a mile will think she is three miles out ? A. They could not well think that. 



Q. .You can generally tell when you are within three miles? A. Yes ; at alleveuU within 

 a mile and a half. 



Q. Well, you say that in 1868 and 1869 the American schooners came there and fished 

 out the halibut ? A. Yes ; they cleaned them out. 



Q. What kind of fishing was it ? A. With long lines or trawls. 



Q. There were a great many hooks upon them? A. A great number; there were sev- 

 eral miles of them. 



Q. What was the effect of that, either to your own knowledge or from what yon have 

 heard ? A. The whole of our inshore fishermen fished codfish and halibut. We get none 

 now, or next to none. 



Q. No halibut, you mean? A. No halibut. 



Q. Are they a fish that keep pretty close to the bottom, as a rule? A. Yes. 



Q. Therefore they are the more liable to be taken up by the trawl ? A. That is the method 

 adopted in this country of catching them, altogether. 



Q. Before the Americans came with a trawl, how did your people take them t A. With 

 hand-lines. 



Q. Were they reasonably plenty in those days ? A. Yes ; a boat has got from eight t 

 ten. Now they very seldom get any. 



Q. Well, had the hand-line fishing been continued, and those trawls not introduced, tt 

 or is it not your opinion that the halibut would be now there just us it used to be ? A. I 

 think it would be as good as previously. 



Q. In your opinion, then, this trawl-fishing is simply destructive? A. To halibut. 



SATURDAY, Xovember 17, 1877. 



The Conference met. 



Mr. Doutre continued his argument in support of the case of 

 Majesty's Government, as follows : 

 May it please your Excellency and your Honors : 



When we separated yesterday, I demanded and obtained an adjourn 

 ment until Monday, as I considered I required that time to lay bef 



