1908 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. And what have you caught this year ? A. 104 barrels I have on 

 board. 



Q. What should have been your catch in a good year! A. 300 bar- 

 rels in an ordinary year. 



Q. You think the fish have not only fallen off in quantity but so in 

 quality ? A. Both in quantity and quality. 



Q. During the eight years you were not fishing in the gulf where were 

 you fishing! A. In American waters. 



Q. What sort of fishing had you there? A. We had good fishing. 

 Our eight years' average was better than any eight years' average 1 have 

 made in Bay St. Lawrence. 



Q. What do you suppose your average was? A. 1,000 barrels. 



Q. With a vessel of what size? A. We say a schooner this size is 

 just as good as any. The size does not matter so much in our own, 

 waters as in Bay St. Lawrence. 



Q. W r hat do you suppose is the number of the fleet engaged in mack- 

 erel-fishing in American waters? A. 400 sail. 



Q. These vessels are confined to the mackerel-fishing in American 

 waters, and will average from 5 to 6 barrels to the ton ? A. I don't 

 know that. The small vessels catch about as many as the large vessels, 

 because they are nearer the market and go right in and come right out, 

 and do not lose any time. 



Q. With regard to your large experience in the mackerel fishing, is it 

 a profitable business taken by itself? A. It has not been so for the 

 last 5 or 6 years. 



Q. Have you found it pay unless you did something else ? A. No. 

 When we went into Bay St. Lawrence we could not have made it pay 

 except we had done other business with it. We simply put in there 

 three or four mouths in the summer time when we could not do any 

 other business. 



Q. What would yon consider a fair profit for a mackerel fisherman as 

 you conducted the business ? A. We could not make anything more 

 than insurance and wear and tear ; not anything, really. 



Q. And the profits were obtained by running the vessels on .other voy- 

 ages? A. Yes; and in the winter we generally make $2,000 by running 

 with fruit into New York. 



Q. Among the advantages you had fishing in the gulf, what was the 

 advantage of having the privilege of transshipment ? A. I never con- 

 sidered it any. I followed it for five years, and the result was I lost 

 by it. 



Q. What was the object of transshipping? A. The object in our 

 case was to get a good market, to get the mackerel into market early. 



Q. Not so much to make a third fare ? A. The object was to get them 

 to market in good condition so as to get a better cull. When they are 

 two or three months on board a vessel they don't look so well. If they 

 are sent in early you get a better cull, the fish are better quality, and 

 you get more money for them. But I found the expense more than 

 made the difference, and I stopped transshipping on that account. 



Q. What was the expense of the transshipment? A. About $1.50 per 

 barrel when I transshipped. That is including freight and expenses in 

 Boston. 



Q. In your ordinary trips when you were accustomed to fish in the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence, what was about the annual expenditure, the 

 amount of money you laid out ? A. When I used to land my fish I used 

 to pay out on an average from $1,000 to $1,200. 



