2134 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



By Mr. Foster : 



Question. What is your age ? Answer. Fifty-five years last July. 



Q. When were you first in the Gulf of St. Lawrence fishing for mack- 

 erel ? A. In 1836. 



Q. Do you remember how many barrels you caught that year? A. 

 About 120 barrels. 



Q. Do you recollect where you fished? A. Mostly all over the bay. 



Q. It was a poor year, and you fished all over the bay ? A. Yes. 



Q. Did you fish within three miles of the shore ! A. No. 



Q. Was there any reason why that should not be done that year ? 

 A. We found no mackerel there, and if we had, there was a cutter, an 

 English man-of-war, there. 



Q. In 1843 and 1844, were you next in the bay ? A. Yes. 



Q. Fishing for mackerel I A. Yes. 



Q. What were you, a sharesman ? A. Yes. 



Q. Did you own part of the vessel ? A. I owned one-fourth part. 



Q. What was the vessel? A. The schooner Constitution, about 70 

 tons.' 



Q. How many mackerel did you take those years, 1843 and 1844? 

 A. We took 270 barrels, I think, the first of those years ; and from 260 

 to 270 barrels the second. 



Q. Where were they caught ? A. At the Magdalen Islands. 



Q. You were in the gulf again fishing for mackerel in 1853, 1 believe? 

 A. Yes. 



Q. In what capacity were you in the vessel ? A. As a sharesman. 



Q. What was the vessel ? A. The Eepublic. 



Q. How many barrels of mackerel were taken ? A. About 280. 



Q. Where were they taken? A. At the Magdalen Islands, North 

 Cape, and on Banks Bradley and Orphan. 



Q. When were you next in the bay? A. In 1855. 



Q. When you came in 1855 to the bay, were you skipper ? A. I was. 



Q. What was the vessel ? A. The Kepublic. 



Q. Of what tonnage ? A. 102 tons and a few feet, old measurement. 



Q. And were you in the same vessel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 during the following years, from 1855 to 1860, inclusive ? A. Yes. 



Q. I will take these trips and see where you went and where you 

 caught your mackerel. We will begin with your first trip in the Eepub- 

 lic, as skipper. How many trips did you make in 1855 ? A. Two. 



Q. How many barrels did you take the first trip ? A. About 380. 



Q. Where were they caught ? A. At Bank Bradley, North Cape, and 

 a few at Magdalen Islands and Burnt Island. 



Q. What did you do with your first trip of 380 barrels ? A. Took 

 them home to Gloucester. 



Q. Did you make another trip here that year ? A. Yes. 



Q. What time did you leave Gloucester on the second trip ? A. At 

 the latter end of September. 



Q. How many barrels did you take on the second trip ? A. If my 

 memory serves me right, 140 or 150 barrels. 



Q. Where were they taken ? A. Most of them to the northward of 

 Magdalen Islands. 



Q. Did you take any anywhere else ? A. I cannot say we did not 

 take a few. We hauled to, I suppose, in going and coming out of Causo. 



Q. At what place did you take any mackerel except at Magdalen 

 Islands ? A. None of any consequence elsewhere. 



Q. In 1856 were you skipper of the same vessel, and how many trips 

 did you make that year ? A. Two. 



