AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2753 



Q. Here is au account of a Portland schooner which got 1,265 barrels 

 seining this year. A. Yes ; but I think that is an exception. I do not 

 think that you would find a great many catches of that kind. 



By Sir Alexander Gait : 



o. Yon know all about the quality of the fish taken on the American 

 coast ! You are well acquainted with this subject ? A. Generally 

 speaking, yes. 



(}. What proportion does the best quality of fish taken there bear to 

 the poorer ones? A. "Well, this season, of the best quality, as I under- 

 stand it, scarcely any have been taken ; on that shore there has been a 

 very small catch of very good mackerel this year ; but this varies very 

 materially different years. You will see by the reports of the inspectors, 

 or by their returns, that a very large catch of number ones will have 

 been taken one year, while perhaps the next year the catch may run 

 very largely of number threes. The quality of the catch varies almost 

 every year. 



Q. We are told that the first caught early in the season, both off the 

 American coast and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, are poor I A. O, yes j.' 

 they are always poor in the spring, and then they gradually fatten up. 

 Some seasons they fatten up more rapidly than they do during other 

 seasons. Some seasons good mackerel are caught in July and August, 

 and in other seasons this is not the case. 



Q. Is the greater quantity of the fish that comes to market of the 

 inferior or of the best qualities ? A. As I told you, this varies very 

 much. Some years the larger quantity will consist of the best qualities, 

 and other years, perhaps the very next season, it will be the direct 

 reverse. 



By Mr. Foster : 



Q. Whereabouts on the American coast have the best mackerel been 

 found ? A. Well, I see by the reports of this season that this has been 

 at Block Island, and last year this was also the case, I think. 



Q. For a few years past, which have sold for the highest price num- 

 ber ones from the bay or number ones from the American shore ? A. 

 O, their shore mackerel have been the best quality of fish. 



Q. Some one the other day produced a Bostou paper of recent date, 

 in which Prince Edward Island mackerel some of yours, I suppose! 

 A. Very likely. 



Q. Were quoted higher than number ones shore mackerel ; what does 

 that mean ? A.- This is because they have caught very few mackerel of 

 good quality on the American shore this season, but I am not speaking 

 about this season, but of other years; perhaps in that same paper, a 

 few weeks ago, Block Island mackerel were quoted a good deal higher 

 than bay mackerel ; but this season has been rather an exception to the 

 ordinary rule, and they have caught poor mackerel on the American 

 shore, as I have understood. 



Q. When is the time for the best catch over on the United States 

 shore? A. I think th&t it is over now, though they may get some good 

 catches yet ; but this is hardly to be expected. 



Q. And the season is over in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ? A. Yes, sub- 

 Mantially so. 



Q. Of course, the spring mackerel are thin and poor wherever they 

 are caught ? A. Yes. 



( ,>. And very many more of them are caught off the United States 

 coast than in the gulf? A. Yes; they catch mackerel earlier there. A 

 173 F 





