2288 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



By Mr. Dana : 



Q. The fishing business at Gloucester has been built up within the 

 last 25 or 30 years ? A. I think it has. The different departments have 

 been drawn in. 



. Q. Has it not been built up at the expense of other towns ? Take 

 Marblehead ; it used to be a famous fishing place. A. Yes. Marble- 

 head four or five years ago had forty vessels ; this year it has eight. 

 Beverly has decreased to 22 ; formerly it had a great number. Man- 

 chester sends out none now ; I remember when it sent out eighteen 

 vessels. 



Q. So that whatever increase there has been at Gloucester, you can 

 trace it as having been drawn from other fishing towns : in other words, 

 the trade has been centralized ? A. Yes. Our products are also brought 

 in by eastern vessels from along the shore of Maine, which come in and 

 sell their cargoes. That quantity goes into our product. It makes busi- 

 ness for us. 



By Mr. Davies : 



Q. You are under the impression that the producer would pay the 

 duty ? A. That is my impression, that the consumer would hardly 

 know the difference in price. 



Q. That is based on the promise that a very small quantity of fish 

 comes in from the provinces ? A. Not altogether on that. 



Q. If it is not upon that data, upon what data do you form that con- 

 clusion ? A. That the price of fish is not governed by the men who 

 produce it or put it in the market for sale. We have to take what we 

 can get. We cannot make the price of fish ; there is no union about 

 it, and whether there is a duty paid or not, the price of fish to the con- 

 sumers or middle men is not regulated by how much it cost to produce 

 it or how much duty is paid on it. 



Q. Is not the market for fish regulated by the ordinary laws of supply 

 and demand ? A. Not altogether. 



Q. How do you account for the extraordinary variation in price, 

 which appears to depend very much on the quantity produced ! A. It 

 depends somewhat on that, but the market for mackerel has not done 

 so. This year we had a very small catch of mackerel, but the price has 

 been low, very low compared with the catch. It is higher than it would 

 have been if we had caught three times as many. 



Q. Showing that the quantity produced has regulated the price ? 

 A. Not altogether. 



Q. To a large extent. I will take the illustration you have given. 

 There has been a very poor catch this year on your coast I A. Yes. 

 rather light. 



Q. I was told by a very large fish dealer that he had a quantity of 

 mackerel, No. 1, in Boston, and he expected to get $28 per barrel for it. 

 Is that near the market price ! A. I have not heard of any such price 

 being mentioned. 



Q. What is the price of No. 1 mess mackerel ? A. Caught where ! 



Q. I don't care where. Is there any difference ! A. I have not heard 

 of any price being paid this year over $22 per barrel. That was for the 

 best mess mackerel, and of those few are wanted. 



Q. Is $22 a high price ? A. Yes. 



Q. Is that not caused by the lightness of the catch on your coast? 

 A. No. There is a certain call for a particular class of mackerel, and 

 if you can supply that mackerel you can obtain a certain price. When 

 you increase the quantity of that class, the price will fall. There is a 



