1974 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Why do you slander the poor fish if you have not gone and made their 

 acquaintance ? A. I guess the fish don't know what I am saying. 



Q. Unless you were down and saw them why should you slander the 

 fish ? A. As a general thing the mackerel caught off Prince Edward 

 Island are hardly worth carrying home. Another thing is, that the 

 boat fishermen which catch the mackerel there did not know what 

 mackerel was before we went there. 



Q. Was it because they did not know what mackerel was that a poor 

 class of fish came in there ? A. They did not know what mackerel was 

 when I first went into the bay, or whether they should take them by 

 the head or tail. 



Q. They were such a poor class of fish ? A. They did not know 

 mackerel from cod when I first fished there. 



Q. Did you stay sufficiently long to instruct them in the different 

 methods of taking fish ? A. I did not; but our people have instructed 

 them how to catch the fish and dress them. 



Q. Consequently a better class of fish are [now on the shores ? A. 

 There has been a poor class of fish there. 



Q. What has the intelligence of the islanders to do with the charac- 

 ter of the fish ? A. They did not know anything about fishing before 

 we went there. That has nothing to do, of course, with the character 

 of the fish. 



Q. Has the character of the fish improved as the people have im- 

 proved in knowledge ? A. They don't know whether they are catching 

 poor or fat fish. 



Q. Are no good mackerel taken at the island at all ? A. I don't say 

 there never were any good mackerel taken there, but that as a general 

 thing the mackerel are poor, miserable trash. That is the idea about it. 



Q. Are the mackerel taken at Prince Edward Island as late as Sep- 

 tember and October poor trash also ? A. They are not so bad as in the 

 summer time. 



Q. Are they poor or good mackerel ? A. Not generally so poor, be- 

 cause they come from the north and strike there, and those which come 

 from the north are better mackerel. 



Q. Spring mackerel are poorer than fall mackerel ? A. I am talking 

 about summer mackerel. One mackerel caught at Magdalen Islands 

 is worth three of those caught at Prince Edward Island. 



Q. You say that mackerel caught in September and October off the 

 coast of Prince Edward Island are poor trash ? A. I say not always, 

 not every year. Some years they are poor trash and some years they 

 are not so. 



Q. Is that not the case on all coasts ? A. No. 



Q. Are Magdalen Island mackerel never poor trash ? A. Mackerel 

 have been poor in the bay for the last five or six years all over the bay. 



Q. They are poor mackerel ? A. Poor to what they were a number 

 ot years ago. 



Q. Do you mean poor in quality or few in number ? A. Poor in 

 quality. 



Q. I understand you that spring mackerel coming into Magdalen 

 Islands are equal to October mackerel at Prince Edward Island! A. 

 No, I don't say any such thing. 



Q. I asked you if spring mackerel were always poor, and I understood 

 you to say that the mackerel at Magdalen Islands were not. A. Spring 

 mackerel are poor everywhere. 



Q. Are not the fall mackerel at Prince Edward Island just as good as 

 the fall mackerel at Magdalen Islands ? A. They are not. 



