AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



certain trade which wants nice mackerel and will pay a good price for 

 it. 



Q. Is that the average price of No. 1 mess mackerel ? A. No ; it is 

 a little high. 



Q. How much too high ? A. They are usually $18, $19, or $20, when 

 there is a good catch. I think 822 is a little higher than the average 

 price over a series of years. From $18 tx> $20 would be the average 

 price of No. 1 mess mackerel. 



Q. What did mess mackerel bring last year ? A. I sold mess mackerel 

 at about $17; there was a very short catch, indeed. 



Q. And the price this year is $5 higher than last year ? A. Yes. 



Q. Don't you think that is accreditable, to a very large extent, to the 

 lightness of the catch this year on your coast ? A. Perhaps it might a 

 very few dollars on the barrel. 



Q. And if there was a duty imposed, and no extraordinary catch, do 

 you not think the consumer would pay the duty ! A. No ; because I 

 don't think you could depend on a small catch if you had a duty imposed. 

 You might have a large catch and a duty. 



Q. I am taking this year. Suppose there was a duty on mackerel 

 this year, who would pay it on the mackerel ? A. The man who caught 

 them would pay the duty. 



Q. Although he got $5 more per barrel than last year ? A. Not on 

 account of the duty. 



Q. On account of the lightness of the catch ? A. That would not 

 affect the duty at all. 



Q. If he had to pay a duty of $2 per barrel, he would get $5 per 

 barrel more than last year ? A. Does he get any more if it is free or 

 less than if there was a duty on this year ! Customers do not think 

 anything about duty when they purchase mackerel. The duty has 

 ' nothing to do with regulating the price ; the quantity caught has some- 

 thing to with it. 



Q. And therefore the quantity imported would have something to do 

 with the price ? A. It has some effect on it. 



Q. Suppose one-half the mackerel consumed in the United States was 

 imported, what would be the effect? A. It would affect the price; it 

 would make our prices low. 



Q. Must not one-fourth of any product being imported materially 

 affect the price ! A. It does, somewhat. 



Q. Does it not materially ? A. It is according to the kind that is 

 produced. Certain kinds of mackerel will sell better than other kinds. 



Q. A return shows that the mackerel imported into the United States 

 from 1871 to 1876 ranged at about 90,000 barrels. That, is about one- 

 fourth of your annual consumption ? A. There are about 250,000 bar- 

 rels annually inspected in Massachusetts, and 50,000 in Maine ; it is 

 therefore less than one-fourth. 



Q. It is between one-third and one-fourth. Don't you think the im- 

 portation of that quantity must necessarily affect the market? A. Yes: 

 that is what we are afraid of. 



Q. And when you spoke about being against going back to the t 

 state of things you spoke as a citizen of the United States, not a.s a 

 person engaged in the fishing business simply ? A. Yes. 



Q. Speaking as a fisherman, would you prefer to have the duty on 

 A. Personally, I would rather have the duty on. 



Q. Why ! A. Because the duty is better for us, for it would have a 

 tendency in years of good catches to prevent your people from increas- 

 ing their business. It has that tendency. 

 144 F 



