2424 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. If you bad you would have gone ill and tried ? A. I think it is 

 likely 1 would if I knew that there were plenty of fish inshore. 



Q. If you had ever heard evidence like that I mentioned, you would 

 have gone in and given the inshore fishery a trial ? A. Well, I know a 

 little more about that matter than the man who made that statement. 



Q. Would you have done so or not ? A. Well, of course if there were 

 fish inshore and we knew it and had a chance to catch them we proba- 

 bly would do so. 



*Q. If you heard a hundred men swear what I have mentioned, would 

 you do so ? A. If I heard men swear to a lie and I knew it, that would 

 be no temptation to me. 



Q. But you would certainly be open to conviction? A. O, yes. 



Q. If a hundred men so swore, would you be induced to give it a trial? 

 A. That would depend on circumstances. 



Q. If you had a license, how much persuasion would have induced 

 you to give the inshore fishery one trial ? A. If I was going to fish in- 

 shore, I would have gone the right way about it and obtained a license. 



Q. Do you not think you are a little prejudiced about this matter I 

 A. No. 



Q. What prejudice have you against those shores of ours I A. None. 



Q. And you never once tried inshore ? A. No, not in the bay. 



Q. So of course you cannot speak about this fishery from your own 

 knowledge; you must have some sort of prejudice in this regard? A. 

 What is the use of our going to try for fish where we know there are no 

 fish. 



Q. Precisely, but you did not know; how did you find out ? A. Were 

 uot the boats fishing right along' as we went along the shore, and we 

 could see whether they were getting fish or not. The boats were strung 

 all around the shore. 



Q. Now you are telling us something. A. Yes; I am glad of it. 



Q. How many thousand boats fished inside the three-mile limit around 

 Prince Edward Island! A. I do not know, but I know that a great 

 many boats fished around the coast. 



Q. How much did these boats catch, on the average ? A. I do not 

 know. 



Q. Did you ever try to ascertain ? A. No. 



Q. Did you ever make inquiries respecting this matter? A. No. 



Q. Have you any idea respecting it ? A. No. 



Q. Do you know from personal observation what they caught? A. 

 No. 



Q. And yet you never tried inshore? A. Not within the three mile 

 limit. 



Q. The cutters never gave you any trouble? A. No; their men only 

 boarded us and told us that we were not allowed to fish within three 

 miles of the shore. 



Q. And you obeyed the order? A. Yes. 



Q. How far did you ever go inshore to fish ? A. Well, probably 

 within five or six miles of land. 



Q. Have you any preference as to fishing six miles off, over four miles 

 A. Well, of course there is no way for us to tell the exact distance. 



Q. Have you any such preference? A. Of course not, 



<J. Is five miles off any better than four and a half miles for fishing 

 purposes? A. That does uot amount to anything with me. We fish 

 were we find fish. We catch them five miles offshore and ten miles off 

 when the lish are there. 



