AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2349 



I talked with them particularly about it. They say when the pollock 

 are on our side their boats are here, and when on their side our boats 

 are there, so they never have any trouble about the fishing-grounds. 



Q. Do you know of any fishing done in boats there except pollock- 

 fishing? A. No. 



Q. What kind of fish for mercantile purpose is pollock ; is it a valua- 

 ble or a cheap fish ? A. It is a cheap fish. Not so valuable as cod. 



Q. What do they sell for per poun<n A. They go from $1.25 to $3 

 per quintal. 



Q. Within the last few years ? A. Yes. They make a good deal of 

 oil: they are well livered. 



Q. And that pollock fishery, as you understood, is common to the 

 boats of the two places ? A. That is what they told me when I saw 

 the boats there together. 



Q. They make a reciprocity treaty for themselves? A. That is as I 

 understood it. At Eastport the people told me that if herring were at 

 Grand Manan they would go over, and if they were on their side the 

 people of Grand Manan would come over and fish in West Bay. They 

 never had any trouble. 



Q. Is your information about the State of Maine sufficiently exten- 

 sive to enable you to state whether the fisheries of Maine, cod and mack- 

 erel particularly, have been increasing or decreasing, say for the last 

 ten years ? A. I should say they have been decreasing. 



Q" Explain. A. The town I live in once had twenty sail of vessels 

 over 50 tons; now it has not got one. 



Q. What did these vessels do? A. Fished for codfish and mackerel. 



Q. Did the same vessels do one business one part of the year and the 

 other business the other part ? A. Yes. 



Q. Do you include the whole of Deer Isle in that or merely your 

 town ? A. I can tell you for the whole of Deef Isle. There used to be 

 fishing firms there that owned and fitted out vessels. There were three 

 firms at Burnt Cove, Deer Isle. There were two firms at Green's 

 Landing, Charles Eden and S. Green. The Warrens had twenty sail 

 of vessels. Now there is not one solitary fishing-stand in the whole 

 town of Deer Isle, and no one fishes for pollock or mackerel, unless it 

 be the two Webbs. The Webbs have three vessels left. The Warrens 

 have one or two vessels left. Charles Eaton has not a vessel. There 

 is a not a fleet or a barrel in Burnt Cove. 



Q. Take other towns on the coast which you know of in the vicinity 

 of Booth Bay ? A. I am not so well posted in regard to Booth Bay of 

 late years. - A new firm from Cape Cod has gone there, and they say 

 is starting business there. I know the fishing business went down there 

 greatly. McCleutick, one of the principal fish-dealers, told me that it 

 was about played out with them. 



Q. What is the Cape Cod firm fishing for ? A. They are fishing for 

 everything, I believe. They fit out vessels, and buy fish, herring and 

 mackerel. 



Q. Give me the name of the firm. A. I cannot remember it. 



Q. Are there any other towns you recollect about ? A. Yes ; there 

 is the town of Viualhaven. There used to be 50 sail of vessels there, 

 hiul it was one of the greatest places for codfish-making in the State. 

 Now there is not one vessel goes out of the harbor where there used to 

 be a fleet. There are four or five vessels belong to the inland and scat- 

 tered all round. I believe George Hopkins is the only one in thattown 

 who has made codfish this year. 



Q. Do you know anything about Portland? A. I have not been at 



