2272 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. Do you catch the bait ? A. We buy it from the natives there. 



Q. Do you employ any men to go to catch it for you ! A. Yes ; we 

 employ the natives. 



Q. I have never been there and would like to know : now supposing 

 you went in, how would you proceed to get bait! What would you 

 do ? A. A fisherman would take his seine and go and catch it for us, 

 and we would buy it. 



Q. Do you employ them ! A. Yes ; we employ them before they go 



Q. But do you agree to pay them so much ? A. We agree to give 

 them so much for so many barrels of herring. 



Q. The Bank fishing, 1 understand, is increasing, and is pretty good of 

 late years? A. Yes; I don't know if it is increasing much. Our ves- 

 sels get good trips there. 



Q. Now, with reference to the American shore fishing; has it increased, 

 or is it decreasing? A. I say it is decreasing. 



Q. Very much ? A. Very much this year. 



Q. Taking three or four years, or four or five years back ? A. It has 

 been decreasing for the last four years. 



Q. Has it diminished to any material extent ? A. Well, it has to a 

 great deal. It is nothing like it used to be 13 or 14 years ago. 



Q. You say each trip in for bait cost you $100 ? A. Yes; for ice and 

 bait, port charges, and everything, light-moneys. I call everything $ 100. 



Q. I didn't understand that they charged anything now for port 

 charges! A. They do; I paid $18 this summer, that is once a year. 

 There are harbor-dues, water-rates, cleaning, &c. 



Q. How many barrels of bait do you take each time ? A. Sometimes 

 50 barrels and sometimes 40. Some vessels take 60 barrels. 



Q. How much a barrel do you pay for that ? A. We pay so much for 

 the lot. It is just according to how the herring are. If they are plenty 

 we pay less, and if they are scarce we pay more. Sometimes it is $1 

 a barrel, sometimes $1.50, and sometimes $2. 



Q. From one to two dollars? A. Yes. 



Q. Do you pay so much a barrel, or employ a man and pay him so 

 much in the lump ? A. We will employ a man that has a seine, and he 

 will go catching herring for so much ; it may be $30, $40, or $50 for all 

 we want. If we want 40 barrels, we will give, say, $40; if they are 

 scarce, perhaps more. He will take a seine, and perhaps be two or three 

 days looking after them. 



Q. You say, "I will give you $30 or 840 (as the case may be) to go 

 and catch me so many barrels"! A. Yes; that is the way it is done, and 

 then sometimes we give $10 for ice. 



Q. Do you give any assistance in catching them ? A. Sometimes we 

 do. 



Q. You send some of the men ? A. Yes ; sometimes we do. It depends 

 upon how he works himself. If he is a sociable good man, we give him 

 help; if he is not, we let him do it himself. 



Q. Does that affect the price? A. Well, we don't say anything about 

 giving him any assistance. Sometimes we give it. Usually they use 

 drag-seines, and have to haul them ashore. 



Q. Well, how many vessels from Gloucester are now engaged in the 

 Bank fishing ? A. I suppose there may be 250 or 260. There are 488 

 vessels, I guess, last year on the register of Gloucester, almost 500 sail. 

 They don't all go on the Banks. 1 suppose 200 go on the Banks. The 

 others are round the Georges and their own shores and in the bay. A 

 great many go to the Magdalen s, and a great many to the Georges. 



Q. You get your bait sometimes in Newfoundland and sometimes 



