AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 190'J 



Q. That was for current expenses at the ports ! A. Yes, at the Strait 

 of Canso, where I used to laud. 



Q. In those days, whatVas t^he average number of the tteet that did 

 very much as you did I A. I don't know that I could make a very good 

 average. 



Q. Give an approximate amount, to the beat of your judgment. A. 



600 or 700 sail, certainly. I have been in the bay with OiM) Hail of Amer- 

 ican vessels, but the number rather diminished along the hut yean I 

 went there. Everything tended to drive them out of the bav cut ten 

 and one thing and another and finally I went fishing in our own u .it.-rs, 

 and did a good deal better. 



Q. Judging from your experience in the gulf, and your experience of 

 the American fisheries, you have really no doubt about the value of the 

 fishery on the American coast as compared with the fishery in the gulf! 

 A. No; not the slightest. It is worth ten times as much as the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence fishery. 



Q. In American waters, where is the bulk of the fish taken ? A. They 

 are taken from 10 to 30 miles from the laud ; that is where we take most 

 fish. The men who fish most outside get the most fish, both on the 

 American and Canadian shores, except this year. 



Q. What is the matter with the fishery on the United State* coast 

 this year? A. The trouble is on account of the bait. The cold east 

 wind in the spring killed all the live bait the shrimps and the fish 

 did not come to the surface. There is plenty f mackerel on our coast. 

 I left plenty of fish there, and I would have done better there than in 

 Bay St. Lawrence; and if I had gone back to our coast I would have 

 been $1,000 better off. I held on, for the.y told big stories of the quau- 

 tity of fish; but I have given it a fair trial, and found there was none. 



Q. The bait, I believe, is found not only iushore but also outside? A. 



f lt is found offshore just the same as inshore; there is mure off. slid re than 



'inshore as a rule. I know the trouble was caused by the east winds, of 



which we had a great quantity, killing the bait, for we could not account 



for it any other way. There was plenty of maukerel south, but when we 



got on the east coast they did not come to the surface, and that is the 



reason the fishermen could not catch them. 



By Mr. Thomson : 



Q. Then, 8 years ago,- the fisheries in the gulf were first rate! 

 Eight years ago they were rather slim. I left to-day eight years ago. 

 The cutters drove me out, or rather I cleared out because they made 

 such a row with me. 



Q. You did not like to annoy the cutters by staying there? 

 not like to be scared to death all the time, i did not care au.Ul 

 about the cutters. 



Q. You did not care about the cutters, but you did i 

 scared ? A. I could not tell whether I was 3, 5, G, or 7 miles 

 You might appear to be three miles from shore and might i 

 than one. The atmosphere is such you cannot judge . 

 your eye. 



Q. It was impossible to tell whether you were three 

 shore? A. You cannot do it. 



Q. It is not impossible to tell whether you are one mile or I 

 from the coast! A. I have seen the time when I was one i 

 I thought I was more than three miles. 



Q. You recollect the time when you were one mile c 

 as if you were three miles off? A. Yes. 



