AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 1917 



A. According to the best of my judgment, I should say that about 20 in 

 the 104 barrels I have are fit for number ones, and the rest for number 

 twos. 



Q. And these are poor trash ? A. They are of very poor quality. 



Q. Did you not say that they were poor trash and good for noth- 

 ing f A. I say that they are not fit to eat. 



Q. Who are the unfortunate people upon whom yon exjHM't to palm 

 them off ? A. People who dou't know anything about rn;ckt;rel. There 

 are plenty of such people in the world, to whom .you can sell almost 

 anything. 



Q. Are not the inspectors sworn officers ? A. Yes. 



Q. And you expect these sworn inspectors to mark them No. 1 although 

 they are such poor trash and not fit to eat! A. Yes, sir; ami they will 

 be marked bay mackerel, not shore mackerel, and people will buy them 

 with that understanding. 



Q. Do they understand that No. 1 bay mackerel are fit for nothing? 

 A. They are not nearly so good as shore mackerel ; we have to sell the 

 former for $3 or $4 less, and perhaps $5 or $6 less than the latter.' I 

 have sold them at $9 less than ours in the market. 



Q. No. 1 bay mackerel is not equal to No. 1 American mackerel T A. 

 No; but I have got $3 a barrel more for the former than the latter, 

 when we fished in the bay 15 years ago. 



Q. Why is that? A. I could not tell you. 



Q. There was a time when the bay mackerel were better than the 

 American mackerel ? A. Yes; they used to be better than our shore 

 fish ; they commanded a better price ; but during the last 8 or 10 years 

 it has been quite the reverse; but why this is so is more than I win tell 

 you. 



Q. The American fisheries along the coast failed, until within the last 

 ,year or two, very much ? A. I am not aware that this was the case. 



Q. I allude to the inshore fishery on the American coast ? A. I did 

 not know that it had. 



Q. You did not know it I A. No. 



Q. Will you swear that this was not the case? A. I do not know 

 that it was. 



Q. And you never heard that it had failed ?-,A. No. 



Q. You did not know it of your own personal experience, and you 

 never heard that it had failed ? A. No. 



Q. And you have been a practical fisherman for 15 or L'3 years ?- 

 Yes. That is my business. 



Q. And during these 23 years you have no personal knowledge c 

 American fishery having failed on your coast, and you have never heard 

 of such a thing? A. 1 have known that mackerel were jiwfnl s<-i 

 as they are in your bay this year, but I know that they were plentil 

 last year. They were more plentiful on our shore last year than I 

 saw them to be in the Bay of St. Lawrence. 



Q. Then you have not known, and you never even hea 

 American fishery on your own coasts failing at all ' 

 tirelv ? 



Q. Practically failing, and not being worthy of pursuit T- 

 beeu more of a failure this year than 1 ever saw since 1 wen 



Q. Do I understand you to say that during all these years 

 you are aware, the American fishery on the American coast 

 as good as it was during the last two years, and better, ot co. 

 it has been this year; and that you know of no differed 



