1944 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



business prior to the Washington Treaty ? A. Xo, I would not swear 

 that. 



Q. Has this not been a more profitable business since that treaty ? 

 A. I could not tell you anything about it. 



Q. You know something about the curing of fish. I believe? A. I 

 tried to cure the voyage this summer, but I do not know whether I have 

 done it right or not. 



Q. But you do know something about it ? A. Yes. 



Q. How long do you keep the fish exposed to the sun at home in the 

 process of curing f A. About four days, I think ; but I would not be 

 certain on the point. 



Q. And the fish is then considered fit for your, the American, market? 

 A. Yes; the time might be a day longer. It all depends on the 

 weather. I think that four good days are quite sufficient for the purpose. 



Q. Is not a profit made by the owner of the vessel, in the difference 

 between the amount at which he pays off the crew and the amount which 

 the fish is naturally worth in the market at the time ? A. Sometimes 

 he makes something, and more frequently he does not. It all depends 

 on the market. Sometimes he may pay 83 a hundred for the fish and 

 get about $4, and then he loses money; he cannot make anything under 

 such circumstances. 



Q. But usually does he not pay off the fishermen at a less amount 

 than the fish is naturally worth in the market at the time ? A. No. 

 He generally pays them all he can afford to, as far as I can see. When 

 you come to figure up their labor, the cost of the salt, and one thing and 

 another. 



Q. Are you now in a position to estimate what it will cost per quintal 

 to cure the fish, as you have stated they are cured ? A. Well, no, I 

 could not; but it will take a good many dollars when the expenses are 

 figured up. I forget them. 



Q. How was it just now that you could arrive so quickly at the esti- 

 mate of 81.30 a barrel as the cost of transshipment ? A. I "thought that 

 was what I paid the first year I transshipped. 



Q. How did you arrive at it so quickly ? A. Because I thought it 

 cost us that much. 



Q. Before you came in here did you not, in conversation with Captain 

 Bradley, agree as to the price you would so pay ? A. Xo. I did not 

 say one word to Captain Bradley, any more than to bid him good day. 



Q. Then you did not confer with him before you came here ? A. Ko. 



Q. How did you arrive at the amount of $1.50? A. I think we paid 

 about one dollar freight per barrel one year. 



Q. You thought so ? A. I think I did so the first year I shipped 

 mackerel. 



Q. And do you mean to say that 50 cents a barrel was paid for the 

 labor of transferring the barrels from one vessel to another? A. That 

 was for the labor at home, on the wharf and ashore. 



Q. But the labor at home was the same, whether you transshipped 

 or took the fish home in your own vessel ? A. It was'paid because the 

 work had to bo done at home. 



Q. But the labor would be the same, and it would cost the same who- 

 ever it was doiH by ? A. I suppose so. 



Q. You have said that you only used capliu bait? A. Yes. 



Q. And do you not consider that it was good ? A. It did not suit me 

 for bait, and I will never be bothered with caplin again. 



Q. Do you not know that American Bankers prefer calpiu for bait ? 

 A. O, Yes. 



