AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. ;. 2741 



to market? A. No; this is just for these 4 stations, and what I gather 

 in from surrounding boats. 



Q. How many barrels in all did you send from your own stations last 

 year f_A. A little over 2,000. 



Q. The catch is better this year than it was last? A. Yes; very 

 much better. 



o. Have you any vessels fishing? A. Not from that point, anything 

 to speak of; we have, however, some very small vessels, which are little 

 larger than boats. 



Q. Describe the size and character of those boats of yours. A. They 

 vary very much ; a small proportion of them are what I call large boats, 

 which will go off for three or four days, or for perhaps a week ; and on 

 which the men can cook and sleep. They are open boats, but still large 

 enough to accommodate three or four men, for cooking and sleeping on 

 board, and salting fish. A small portion of them are of that character, 

 and the size of the others varies from, that down to small boats of 15 and 

 16 feet keel. Some of the boats go out and in perhaps two or three times 

 a day; and others will go out and remain out a week. 



Q. Describe the way in which these boats of yours fish in the different 

 parts of the season ; how far from the shore do they usually go to catch 

 mackerel ? Tell all you know about that, from what falls within your 

 personal observation. A. It is customary for these boats to start early 

 in the morning, and perhaps they will go off shore for a mile or 1 miles, 

 aud come to try for mackerel, and throw out bait; and if they do find 

 mackerel there, why they stay there; but if they find few mackerel, or 

 none there, they go out farther. Some will scatter off, while one or two 

 may fish within one or 1 miles of the shore, another boat will go half a 

 mile farther out, and another half a mile farther still they scatter in 

 that way. There is no uniform rule for taking up their places ; but this 

 is generally the way they do. Sometimes, when they find a school, all 

 the boats will gather in together; but if they merely pick up mackerel, 

 they may be half a mile, a mile, or two miles from the shore stretched 

 out along the shore. 



Q. How far is the farthest distance from the shore to which these 

 boats usually go? A. They will go out perhaps for 7 7 or eight miles ; 

 7 miles, I should say, would be about the greatest distance, speaking for 

 the point where I am located. This varies in different parts of the island. 

 At some points on it they find the fish plentiful quite near the shore, 

 and then, perhaps, 15 or 20 miles along the shore from that point, you 

 will have to go farther out to find them. I suppose that this depends 

 somewhat on the character of the bottom and of the curves aud tides; 

 that is the way they fish. In the warmest weather, in midsummer, the 

 fish are nearer inshore in my experience, aud towards the fall the fish- 

 ermen have to go farther out for them. When the weather gets pretty 

 rough in the fall the small boats do not go out, but the larger boats go 

 off longer distances. 



Q. How far out did the boats go during the past month? A. During 

 the past month I have not been aware of any fish having been caught 

 on the east side of North Cape, except 4 or 5 miles out ; but on the other 

 side of North Cape, the west side, they were taken nearer inshore ; this 

 is almost always the case in the fall on the one side the fish are then 

 taken at a longer distance off shore, while on the other side they are 

 quite handy. This depends on the wind ; a west wind drives the fish 

 on shore on the one side and off shore on the other. They go with the 

 wind, I think. 



Q. Do these boats usually fish drifting or at anchor ? A. They almost 



