2380 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. When you lived at Charlottetown, what were you doing ? A. My 

 main business was the purchasing of produce. The purchasing of oats 

 was the main business, and as incidental to the business I have shipped 

 10,000 to 20,000 bushels of potatoes, and what fish I dealt in, that is, 

 mackerel, not codfish. I competed with two or three others for them. 



Q. Can you give me the extent of your purchase of fish in any year ? 

 A. My purchases of mackerel were small. There was a Mr. Hall and one 

 or two other parties there who owned and were running boats themselves, 

 and their fish came to them. What fish I bought were such as the 

 farmers and fishermen living on the north side of the island caught and 

 brought into market without regard to those places that had stations. 

 I could not say that I bought more than 200, or 300, or 400 barrels 

 while I was living at Charlottetowu. 



Q. Are you familiar with the habits and ways of the boat-fishermen 

 on the island ? A. Yes ; I have been invited out there to give an opin- 

 ion in relation to the manner of their curing their fish. They were pre- 

 mature in the business, and didn't understand the business as we did. 

 I used to go out to Bustico, to Malpeque, to Souris, and across the island 

 to Bouche, I believe it is, and those places. I used to see there, and I 

 understand the manner of their fishing. 



Q. Now, with regard to that boat-fishing, with your knowledge of it 

 in your four years' residence there and purchasing of fish from those 

 people, can you form any idea from what they have told you, or what 

 you saw, as to the distance at which they caught fish ? How did they 

 carry on that fishery, when did they go out, how far did they go, and 

 when did they come in ? A. The boats there are manned, except the 

 fishermen's and farmers' boats, by three, and perhaps some smaller ones 

 by two, and up to four men. They go about daylight in the morning; 

 between that and sunrise. The distance from the shore depends entirely 

 upon where they find mackerel or codfish such as they are fishing for, 

 and they are not likely to catch them within two miles seldom within 

 that. Two miles is a very short distance from the land. Sometimes 

 they are inside of that, undoubtedly, and from that they go to three, 

 four, five, six, and seven miles, and exceptionally beyond that. 



By Sir Alexander Gait : 



Q. When did you say you were living in Prince Edward Island! A. 

 From the fall of 1861 to the fall of 1866. 



By Mr. Trescot : 



Q. And about the character of this fish you have dealt more or less 

 in them all during that time; how did you fiud the n ! A. Well, the 

 mackerel-fishing commences its course about the 10th or 20th of June. 

 That would be my judgment. The earliest fish are seldom caught before 

 the 20th of June. Then the mackerel are poor and are like all other 

 poor mackerel, even if taken care of they are No. 3. They increase 

 from that and become No. 2, and when you get along to the middle or 

 the 10th of August the mackerel generally, in seasons of good fishing, 

 are then very handsome fair mackerel. But no one can testify what the 

 mackerel will be next year through the season by what it is this year. 



Q. What was the preparation of the fish by these people from whom 

 you bought! How did it compare with the preparation by thorough 

 mackerel fishers ? A. Well, we should not sell any of them that time 

 for a fancy article.. They were put ashore in the little barns and places 

 where they kept them and many of them were careless with them, and 

 would be a week, perhaps, filling a barrel. While they were waiting 



