2634 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. But the whole trip of mackerel may be held' over for a year, sales 

 depending on the market ? A. The crew would hold over with him. 



Q. Do you mean to say that, if a crew came in in October, they would 

 not be paid when the packing out took place ? A. Xo. 



Q. They might hold over till next spring ? A. If there is not a mar- 

 ket for the fish the fish cannot be sold, so the crew cannot be settled 

 with, and the cargo remains on the wharf till it is sold. 



Q. Don't they agree on a price ? Does not the merchant buy the fish 

 from the men ? A. Sometimes they will settle in that way, and the 

 merchant will take them at a price. 



Q. Did you ever know a case where a cargo has remained on a wharf 

 all winter waiting for a rise in price ? A. I do ; I had several vessels in 

 I860, the trips of which I kept over. 



Q. And did not pay the men ? A. Not all of them ; some of them 

 kept their fish in store, and I did not settle with them. 



Q. How many of them did so ? A. I could not tell. 



Q. Is it the general and invariable rule ? A. That was an exceptional 

 year. The usual rule is to settle the trips as soon as possible after they 

 arrive. 



Q. When they do settle, how do they arrive at the price ; do the 

 merchants agree on a price ? A. Nothing of the kind. 



Q. It is so with regard to codfish ; it has been so testified here that 

 the merchants agree on a certain price they will allow their fishermen 

 for green fish ? A. Yes. 



Q. That is the rule with regard to codfish ? A. I cannot say it is the 

 rule. They may do it ; I don't know. I notice in Mr. Steele's book va- 

 riations in price. 



Q. I know they pay different prices in different years. Suppose 89 

 vessels arrived to-day in Gloucester and packed out and paid the men, 

 and the vessels were owned by eight or nine different persons, would 

 the men be paid different prices ? A. They would be ; that, is if the 89 

 trips sold for different prices. If all arrived on one day, they would be 

 all settled with at the price of mackerel that day. 



Q. Suppose the mackerel were not sold that day ? A. He settles at 

 the market-price. 



Q. At a sum they agree upon ? A. Yes. There is always a market- 

 price for mackerel, well understood. 



Q. There is a market-price well understood at which the merchant 

 pays the crews? A. You misunderstand it. Let me explain it. In 

 Gloucester there is great competition for trips of mackerel, and four or 

 five buyers come down as soon as a trip is in, after the trip of mackerel. 

 They will bid for the trip, and the one that bids highest takes it at that 

 price. That is the usual way of selling mackerel at Gloucester. If the 

 fitter and owner wants the mackerel himself to send to his customers, he 

 says he will take them himself at the highest bid. 



Q. Is it offered at auction ? A. It is offered among the buyers. 

 Sometimes there is great competition among them. 



Q. Take such a firm as George Steele. When one of their vessels 

 comes in, would they sell the fish to the buyers f A. Yes. 



Q. Does he not pack himself ? A. YeSj, he always packs. 



Q. He would not sell the fish until they were packed ? A. No. Some- 

 times he sells them as soon as thej r arrive. He says, " I will sell this 

 trip for so much after they are packed out." 



Q. What is his practice ; is it to sell to the buyers, or to pack it, pur- 

 chase it, and sell it himself? A. To sell it to the buyers. 



Q. There is a class of men known specially as buyers? A. Yes. 



