AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2283 



sent the accumulated wealth obtained from the cod and mackerel fish- 

 ing during the last 15 or 20 years f A. 1 have not any answer to make 

 to that. I don't know what the other side have said. 



Q. Has Gloucester grown more than towns in other countries ? A. 

 No. Haverhill, Lawrence, and Lowell have largely increased their val- 

 uations. 



Q. To go back to the mackerel fishery. Judging from your list of 

 catches, mackerel is a very variable fishery ? A. Yes. 



Q. In calculating the profits on the mackerel fishery, is there any 

 period within which to expect a rise and fall in the success a/ the busi- 

 ness ? A. From my experience, there are years when we have reason 

 to expect a better catch than other years, from the quality of the mack- 

 erel and the body of it we find the year before. 



Q. What is that period ? A. They are periodical. The large body 

 of mackerel are of quite an even size, and they grow perhaps one inch 

 a year until they reach twelve inches, when they grow not more than 

 one-half or three-quarters of an inch a year; on reaching thirteen Miches, 

 they don't grow more than half an inch a year afterward. \Ve find the 

 same body of mackerel increased in size as the years roll on, until they 

 get to be a good size. As they increase in size they decrease in quan- 

 tity. Then we may expect a new growth, which fish come along not 

 annually but in periods of five or six years, when we find a body ot 

 mackerel of small fish of even size ; and when they get large enough to 

 catch, as we can follow them along in the years we can expect to catch 

 a certain kind for years. I have been through three such periods, and 

 the mackerel have come along about as regularly as we calculated. 

 Sometimes there has been a deviation from the rule, but generally it has 

 been as I have stated. 



Q. How about the mackerel market ? A. The mackerel market does 

 not increase, that is, the demand for mackerel does not increase. The 

 price of mackerel from our experience will rule low. They are low now, 

 compared with the quantity. The country does not seem to call tor 

 mackerel. There is a good call for cod, and a large consumption, but 

 the demand for mackerel is limited, and there is less call for it than 

 usual. 



Q. During the years from which you struck an average of about 11, 

 you included the years of the war ? A. I did. 



Q. Was there not an extraordinary demand during the years of the 

 war ? A. There was a very great demand and the prices were very 

 high, owing to our inflated currency and the demand for the Army, 

 which took a considerable quantity. Those are the years we were suc- 

 cessful, and the mackerel in the bay were the right size to bite. 



Q. Has not the Southern market for mackerel fallen on" .'A. Yea, 

 very greatlj*. 



Q. And there is no prospect of an increased trade ? A. I don't know 

 any. 



Q. You have no reason to anticipate any increase ? A. They don't 

 seem to like mackerel as they used to. We cannot sell one-half what 

 we could twenty-five years ago ; we cannot find a ready market. 1 can- 

 not tell the reason for this fact, except that the people, by the improved 

 mode of transportation, are supplied with fresh fish, which they prefer 

 to salt fish, and I don't blame them for it. 



Q. Have you had any opportunity of judging whether the value of 

 fishing-vessels sailing from Gloucester has increased in recent years!- 

 A. The cost of building and fitting out vessels has fallen off somewhat 

 since 1867 and 1863. 



