AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2257 



United States from the bay ? A. I have not, unless it was an individ- 

 ual case. 



Q. Well, although you have not taken that trouble, yon venture to 

 assert that this telegram was false ? A. I venture to say it was not 

 correct. 



Q. Although you have not taken the trouble to examine the statis- 

 tics ? A. Not the statistics, but the vessels arriving home, and owners 

 who have received word from their vessels'. 



Q. What vessels ? A. The Ellen M. Crosby. 



Q. Is there any other ? A. She caught seven barrels of mackerel and 

 enough to make up 30 coming home. So the crew told me. 

 .Q. Was she a seiner or a liner ? A. A seiner. 



Q. Are you aware whether or not the mackerel are so close in that 

 seiners cannot catch them ? A. I think the seining business in the bay 

 will be a failure altogether. 



Q. Do you know the reason ? A. The rocks and rough bottoms,, as a 

 general thing. 



Q. And has the fact that the mackerel are too close in anything to 

 do with it I A. I should not think so j I should think they would iish 

 inshore as well as out. 



Q. Notwithstanding the depth of the seine? A. That does not make 

 any difference. 



Q. It doesn't? Do you know the depth of the seines used on the 

 American coast? A. Yes. 



Q. Can one of those be used with advantage on the Cape Breton 

 shore, at Prince Edward Island or Bay Chaleurs? A. I think they 

 could on the Cape Breton shore. 



Q. Can they on the other shores ? A. On some they could. 



Q. Have you ever tried? A. No; I have never been seining myself. 



Q. Therefore you don't know. Now, will you swear, or state to the 

 best of your knowledge, that there were 50,000 barrels caught on the 

 American coast before the first of July this season alone t A. No ; I 

 will not swear there were more than 100,000 caught. I don't know any- 

 thing about it. 



Q. And you venture to assert that the mackerel-fishing along that 

 coast has been increasing. Did you mean this year ? A. I said that 

 this year the mackerel had not been so plenty on our shores. 



Q. What year were you at Margaree ? A. 1854. 



Q. You were there in boats ? A. Yes. 



Q. You were in Margaree ? A. Yes. 



Q. How. far would you go from it in boats? A. All around the island 

 to the northward. 



Q. How far from the coast ? A. 3, 4, and 5 miles. 



Q. Then your experience during that time will be limited to that 

 area? A. We could see down Margaree Island, Cheticamp, and Mabou. 



Q. I would like to have you state again what is the result of that 

 year's fishing, 18541 don't mean your own experiment, because you 

 didn't catch but 25 apiece ? A. Twelve apiece. 



Q. What was the result of the catch on the part of the fleet ? A. I 

 never saw a vessel that had got a spurt of 10 barrels not any one ves- 

 sel during the year. 



Q. But that is speaking with reference to what you saw. A. Well, I 

 know. It was my business to be out early in the morning. 



Q. I suppose you would not extend that to Port Hood ? A. As far 

 as I could see. 

 142 F 



