2748 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. Where do the poorest grades go ? A. These are used in the West 

 Indies ; but the fat mackerel do not answer for the West India market ; 

 it does not stand the voyage. I suppose that is the reason why they do 

 not ship the best qualities there. 



Q. Suppose that the catch of mackerel in British waters suddenly 

 ceased, and that none were there caught for a period of five years, what 

 would be the effect thus produced in the United States market? A. 

 Well, that would depend on how good a catch they would then have on 

 the American shore. 



Q. What would be the proportion? A. I should suppose that the 

 proportion of the supply which is caught in British waters would be, 

 perhaps, one-fourth of the aggregate catch. 



Q. That is inshore, offshore, and everywhere ? A. Yes ; of the whole 

 aggregate catch on the United States and Dominion coasts, perhaps 

 one-quarter would be taken in British waters. Then, mackerel not being 

 an indispensable article of food, I do not suppose that such cessation 

 would have a very great effect ; particularly in view of the fact that 

 prices, in my opinion, could not be forced very high, even with a small 

 catch. 



Q. Which is the most important article of food in the Uaited States, 

 fresh or salt mackerel? A. I should say, fresh mackerel decidedly; 

 there is a larger consumption of them ; but then there are seasons in 

 the year, as in winter, when people can get poultry of all kinds and fresh 

 meats, when they do not care much about these fish. This is the com- 

 plaint which fish-dealers make in this respect; farmers in particular 

 prefer to use their own products to paying high prices for fish. 



Q. One witness told us that every American family put down a barrel 

 of mackerel and a barrel of pork to live on during the winter ; does that 

 statement correspond with any opinion which you have on this subject f 

 A. I do not know as to how it may be outside of the limits of ]^ew 

 England, but I think that very few New England families lay in a bar- 

 rel of mackerel for consumption. 



Q. Do you know what quantity of fish comes from the great lakes of 

 the West ? A. I do not; I have heard the quantity stated quite differ- 

 ently, l>nt I have no data to speak from in reference to this matter. 



Q. Have you had anything to do with herring caught at the Magda- 

 len Islands f A. Yes ; we have had a good deal to do with them. 



Q. What did you procure them for ? A. So far as I have obtained 

 them, it has been chiefly for bait, but I think that a good many of these 

 herring have been exported from Charlottetown to the West Indies 

 and the States. 



Q. Have you bought or caught them ? A. I have done both,. 



Q. Did you send your vessels to the Magdalen Islands ? A. Yes; 

 with the means both for catching and buying herring. 



Q. At w T hat rate can you usually have Magdalen Island herring de- 

 livered on Prince Edward Island ? A. Well, for $1, or $1.25 a barrel, 

 without the barrel. 



Q. Would the barrel be worth 81? A. The barrel and the salt for 

 packing would be worth about $1. 



Q. At what price, furnishing the barrels, can you obtain these fish ? 

 A. We then pay about $1 for them. 



Q. Do you furnish your own salt ? A. They are all salted. 



Q. And you can thus get them for that price f A. Yes. > 



Q. What would be the effect of a duty of $L a barrel on pickled her- 

 ring, as to the possibility of their being gent from the Dominion to the 

 United States market ? A. Well, if American vessels had no right to 



