1996 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



or six years ago, about the time when squid were plentiful on our coast, 

 they also became plentiful and vastly abundant on the Grand Banks. 

 Almost anywhere there I was told vessels could heave to, come to an 

 anchor, and catch as many squid as they had a mind to ; for two or 

 three years they carried a full quota of clam bait to these Banks as 

 usual, but when they caught these fish in such a great abundance they 

 hoisted up the clam bait which had cost them some $6 or $7 a barrel 

 and threw it overboard. Those vessels which were light enough tx> 

 bring this bait home, however, did so, and the next year they only car- 

 ried one-half or two-thirds of their usual quota of clam bait. 



By Mr. Thomson : 



Q. When was this ? A. I could not exactly say; I think that it was 

 about six years ago. Then perhaps about five years ago the vessels 

 carried about one-half of their usual quota of bait, and finding squid 

 plentiful again, they had either to throw their other bait away or fetch 

 it homeagain. The year following they wentto the Banks without clams, 

 and then there were no squid to be found. Having no bait, for the first 

 time, to my knowledge, vessels went for bait to Newfoundland. Since 

 that they have carried some clams to the Grand Banks ; the eighteen 

 vessels which are there with hand-lines on the Banks, carry a full quota 

 of bait, and do not go to Newfoundland for it, and have not done so. 

 Those vessels that carry trawls have gone to Newfoundland for bait. 

 By Mr. Foster : 



Q. How has the catch of the hand-line fishermen compared, with re- 

 gard to profit, with the results of the voyages made by the trawlers ? 

 A. The catch has been better in their regard ; some trawlers and some 

 hand-liners had arrived before I came away. A larger class of vessels 

 is used among hand-liners; the average tonnage of the hand-liners 

 would be, 1 think, larger than that of the trawlers. About one-half of 

 those that have come in are hand-liners. 



Q. Have you ascertained the opinion of the owners of vessels engaged 

 in the cod-fishery upon the Grand Banks, as to the profit accruing from 

 and the desirability of their captains going to Newfoundland for bait ? 

 A. Before coming away, I had an interview with the agent of every 

 vessel that belongs to Provincetowu ; and I never heard one of them say 

 that they wanted their vessels to go in there for bait, while a great many 

 were opposed to it. One of them informed me he had told his captains 

 that if they went to Newfoundland after bait, they would be no more in 

 his employ ; draughts had been drawn on him to considerable amounts, 

 and he was wholly unwilling to allow his vessels to go there. Two of 

 his vessels had been in at Newfoundland for bait. The most of them 

 considered that they would discontinue the practice, owing to the cost 

 of the bait in Newfoundland and their long detention there in procuring it. 

 This ran away with their time, and for that reason they came short in 

 their voyages. 



Q. Do you know whether the halibut-fishery is exclusively a deep sea 

 fishery ? A. It is exclusively a deep-sea fishery. I have been engaged 

 in it for several years along our coast, and I have also fished at Cape 

 Sable, oft' Seal Island, Nova Scotia, and on the Western Banks. I was on 

 Sable Island Bank one trip, and have been a good deal on our own coast 

 in this relation. This is a fishery which is prosecuted in the deep sea. 

 When I fished off Seal Island, I was perhaps eight or nine miles offshore 

 in 25 fathoms of water. I got two trips there, but vessels outside of me 



I could just see their masts on a clear day got three times as many 

 fish as I did. They fished so much for halibut on all the banks, even 



