2482 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 







Q. What do you think as to the theory of mackerel migrating ? Do 

 you believe that they go south altogether, or that they merely pass off 

 shore into deep water? A. I do not think that they go very far south, 

 but rather that they go out to the northern edge of the Gulf Stream. 



Q. Do you thiuk'that they go altogether there ? A. Probably all do 

 uot go ; perhaps there are other places where they go j but I think that 

 they go awav until they find warm water. 



Q. Is that the character of any other fish, to migrate into warm 

 \vater ? A. "We have schools of other kinds of fish that come from the 

 southward; there is the cod, which comes on the Banks. 



Q. Is their migration as well established as that of the mackerel ! 

 A. I do not know but that it is. 



Q. Dave you observed where they strike ? A. I do not know that I 

 have. 



Q. "What signs have you seen of codfish migrating? A. Well, I have 

 caught them in different parts, of course. 



Q. Are there signs of their migrating ? Do they migrate into warm 

 water f A. I do not think that they do ; of course, we find some of 

 them on the Banks, but we do not know where they go to or come from. 

 I cannot tell. 



Q. Xo more than yon can with respect to the mackerel ? A. I do not 

 know but this is the case. 



Q. You do not know whether the mackerel go into deep water or to 

 the Gulf Stream ? A. I do not know whether they go into the mud at 

 all ; that is only what I think is the case. 



Q. Have you seen evidence enough in all your experience to satisfy 

 you clearly that the mackerel go into the Gulf Stream or spend their 

 winter elsewhere ? A. I do not know as I could say. 



Xo. 51. 



JAMES CURRIE, master mariner and fisherman, of Pictou, was called 

 on behalf of the Government of the United States, sworn and examined. 



By Mr. Foster : 



Question. How old are you ? Answer. Fifty-four. 



Q. Have you ever fished for mackerel ? A. Yes. 



Q. Where ? A. In the bays of Pictou ; in what is called the North- 

 umberland Strait, from Cape George to Pictou Island, and from Cape 

 George to Murray Harbor, and also from Pictou Island again to what is 

 called the Gulf Wharf at Arisaig, and clear to the West Cape of Prince 

 Edward Island. 



Q. In vessels or in boats? A. In boats. 



Q. How large were they ? A. Some of them were 20 feet keel, and 

 others 22 feat and 25 feet. 



Q. How far out from the shore did the boats go when you fished in 

 them ? A. From Pictou Harbor to the East Point of Pictou Island is a 

 distance of 9 miles, and from the latter point to Arisaig Wharf is some- 

 thing like 12 to 15 miles. 



Q. From land to laud ? A. Yes. 



Q. How far out is most of the boat fishing with which you are 

 acquainted, done ? A. All I can tell you is that I have fished close 

 along the shore, and that there we could not get anything worth speak- 

 ing of. 



Q. Estimate the distance out at which you fished. A. What I call 

 shore fishing is done from half a mile to 1 miles out, and no quantity 



