2318 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. You were either inside or outside of the three-mile line? A. Well, I 

 think we were within the three-mile line part of the time. 

 Q. And you caught 40 barrels ? Yes ; in one day. 

 Q. Were all the rest taken outside of the three-mile limit? A. Yes. 

 Q. And then you gave up fishing ? A. Yes; that was my last trip. 



By Hon. Mr. Kellogg : 



Q. How many trips did you make that year ? A. One ; and we ob- 

 tained 942 sea barrels, packing out, I think, somewhere about 804 or 805 

 barrels, or something like that. 



By Mr. Dana : 



Q. You told us you caught all the rest outside the three-mile limit ? 

 A. Yes ; at the Magdalen Islands. 



Q. Have you been halibut-fishing ? A. Yes ; I followed it a great 

 while, for twenty years. 



Q. Since you left going mackerel-fishing in 1863 ? A. No. 



Q. When did you so fish ? A. During all the years I was in the 

 Bloomer. I did so on the coast until we went to the bay. We fished 

 previously in the Bay of Fundy or on the Georges. 



Q. George's Bank is a great halibut ground ? A. It was then. We 

 used to get a good many halibut there. 



Q. The halibut is a deep-sea fish? A. Yes, generally speaking. Some- 

 times they are caught in shoal water. 



Q. During nineyears you had a right to and to fish where you pleased in 

 the bay, but for some years previously did the fact of cutters being in the 

 gulf make any difference as to your going inside ? A. No ; because we 

 did not trouble ourselves anything about it. In 1851, when I went to 

 the bay on my first trip, the day we got there a cutter seized the schooner 

 Tiber. 



Q. But you did not fish inside the three-mile limit ? A. No. 



Q. Can you not find out from reports of vessels and from your own 

 observation where the fish are ? A. Yes. 



Q. You keep your ears and eyes open all the time you are fishing ? 

 A. Yes. 



Q. It is not necessary actually to go in and try r if you find vessels 

 leaving a place without catching anything, to discover that this is the 

 case? A. No. 



Q. And you have to judge as to the presence of fish a good deal from 

 the reports of others ? A. Yes. A great many men have a choice as 

 to fishing-grounds ; this is the case everywhere, whether in cod, halibut 

 or mackerel fishing. Some fish one way and some another. 



Q. Did you mostly fish for mackerel with hand-lines ? A. Yes. 



Q. Which do you think is the safest fishing-grounds for vessels, as 

 regards wreck and loss, in the whole bay ? A. Well, as to an inshore 

 fishing-ground, I suppose that the Magdalen Islands are the safest 

 place. I always thought that they were as safe as any other place, with 

 good tackel. I always supposed that Orphan and Bradley Banks were 

 the safest places, because they are off shore. 



Q. You have no lee-shore to be afraid of there ? A. No. 



Q. And you are not obliged to use ground tackle ? A. Yes. 



Q. But at the Magdalen Islands you can anchor ? A. Yes. 



Q. And you can find a lee there ? A. Yes ; mostly any time. I 

 never saw the time yet when I could not find a lee when fishing there. 



Q. What do you say as to the bend of the island regarding the safety 

 of vessels ? A. Well, I call the bend of the island a very poor place 

 for a fishing-vessel, as regards safety, especially in the fall. 



