AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2665 



Q. Bnt the small catches appear to have been taken on your shore. The 300 barrel 

 catches you have read were taken in the bay f A. Not all of them. 



Q. I asked you to read those which were caught on your shores. You did read them. 

 Were not the 300 barrel catches taken in the bay T A. Yes ; those were canght in the 

 gulf. 



Now, that one column that Mr. Davies called for is of the first trips 

 of all the vessels ? A. Yes. 



Q. Now, does that give a fair indication of the relative value of the 

 shore and gulf fisheries ? A. 1 don't think it does. 



Q. Why not f A. Because there was more fishing on the shore on 

 the second trip than on the first. 



Q. The question was confined to the first trip ? A. Yes; some made 

 only one trip in the gulf. 



Q. Now, on page 383, there is a question, " Is not Mr. Steele what you 

 call a fish merchant ?" and the answer is, " He is not a fish buyer." Is 

 that correct as it stands ? What does it mean ? A. We have men in 

 Gloucester known as buyers aside from the merchants who carry on the 

 business. 



Q. They buy cargoes when they are brought in f A. Yes. 



Q. Do they prepare them for market after they have been salted and 

 packed ? A. Yes. 



Q. Well, they are the men that cut them up into strips? A. Cod- 

 fish, yes. 



Q. They are buyers of codfish as well as buyers of mackerel ? A. Yes. 



Q. Then Mr. Steele is not one of those, but sells f You are asked, 

 "Does he sell his own fish that his vessels have caught?" and answer 

 " He does." What do you mean by that answer? A. I mean that he 

 sells them to the buyers. 



Q. He does not send them to market ? A. No. 



Q. So he does not sell his own fish in the sense that he is a general 

 seller, wholesale and retail, or jobber, but he sells to " buyers " ? A. 

 Yes. 



Q. In other words, he is a producer ? A. Yes. 



Q. Now on page 182 you are asked and answer as follows : 



Q. Take vessels fishing off your own coast. With regard to wear and tear, don't yon 

 think the wear and tear of vessels fishing off your own coast would be more than that 

 of vessels fishing in the gulf during the months they fish there ?-^A. I do not. 



Q. Not in the winter season ? A. We fish on our* shores all the year round. 



Q. Is not the wear aud tear greater on your coast than in the gulf during the sum- 

 mer months when they fish there ? A. I should say it was. 



Q. How did you understand that? A. I supposed it to allude to the 

 winter season. 



Q. Now, comparing your wear and tear on your own coast during 

 these 4 months with the wear and tear in the gulf during the same 

 period, which would be the greatest? A. I should say in the gulf. 



Q. What advantages are there on our coast apart from its being less 

 boisterous ? A. Harbors more handy. 



Q. Anything else? A. Well, they have more facilities of seeing the 

 storm signals to avoid danger. 



Q. You have no doubt that for the same period of time our .shore is 

 less dangerous than the gulf. Now in autumn vessels are not permitted 

 to go to the gulf. Is any vessel permitted to sail for the. gulf from 

 Gloucester after the 1st of November? A. I think not. 



Q. Do not the insurance companies go round and close up their busi- 

 ness after the 1st November ? A. Yes ; that is the general practice. It 

 used to be the practice always to close up after the 1st November. 



