AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2379 



was larger during the rebellion, and that the fishing of mackerel was 

 at its height, must there not have been some exceptional demand for 

 mackerel ? Was there not an exceptional demand arising from the de- 

 mand for the Army ? A. Yes ; everything ran high. But I think we had 

 had a larger number of vessels there before, say in '49, '52, .or '53, but 

 not so much tonnage. 



Q. Then, if I understand you, within the last series of years the 

 mackerel fishery of Gloucester has declined rather than increased ? A. 

 It has declined ; yes. 



Q. Now, has the mackerel fishery of Gloucester declined as compared 

 with its cod-fishery ; so far as the industry of Gloucester as a fishing- 

 port is concerned/what is the relation of the mackerel to the cod fish- 

 ery? A. Well, I should think the relative importance of the two classes 

 of business, if I understand you aright, would be seventy-five per cent, 

 codfish to twenty-five per cent, mackerel. 



Sir ALEXANDER GALT. Are you asking him generally ? 



Mr. TRESCOT. I am asking him as to the relations that the two in- 

 dustries bear to each other in Gloucester. He says 75 per cent, codfish 

 and 25 mackerel. 



Sir ALEXANDER GALT. That is both on the American coast and in 

 the gulf! 



Mr. TRESCOT. Yes. 



Q. Do you know what is the relation of the cod fishery to the mack- 

 erel fishery this year ? A. Well, I should think it was 90 per cent. 



Q. Do you know what the relative values of the cod fishery and the 

 mackerel fishery were last year in Gloucester ? A. I don't know. 



Q. Now, from your experience in the various capacities in which you 

 have done business in Gloucester, as fisherman, as fish merchant, as 

 president of an insurance company, as being in the custom-house, what 

 would you suppose would be the profit of fishing in Gloucester ; is it 

 large or small ? A. Small. 



Q. What is it derived from, the fishing or the handling of the fish? 

 A. The handling of the fish. The earnings of the fishermen are very 

 small for a family to live on in Gloucester, as everywhere else. They 

 labor ten months in the year in Gloucester, and I think that the aver- 

 age earnings of fishermen would be considered good when they averaged 

 $300 apiece. 



Q. Then, I understand that the profit of the fisheries in Gloucester, 

 as you understand the industry of the town, is a mercantile profit and 

 ' not a fishing profit ? A. It is a mercantile profit. The fish are brought 

 in. When the vessel arrives at the wharf they are purchased with a 

 fair competition, there being 40 or 50 purchasers, and the crews are 

 paid off as soon as the fish are weighed out, and the fish then become a 

 mercantile rather than a fishing interest. 



Q. Now, with your experience of fishing and what you have seen and 

 known, have you ever been able to form an opinion as to the gulf fish- 

 eries ; that is, as to what per cent, of those caught there are caught in 

 deep water and what per cent, within three miles ? A. I have had some 

 acquaintance with it by my business, and being in the bay fishing for 

 mackerel myself two years, and knowing those who have been. 



Q. 'What would you say was the percentage ? A. Well, very small. 

 If I had to set it down, I should say there was 15 per cent, caught 

 within the three-mile limit. 



Q. You referred to the fact, as 1 understood, that you had been living 

 at Prince Edward Island four years ? A. I did. Well, I went home, 

 perhaps, twice a year. 



