AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. : , 2781 



THURSDAY, October 18, 1877. 

 The Conference met. 



The examination of JAMES W. PATTILLO was resumed. 



By Mr. Trescot : 



Question. I see you are stated to belong to North Stoughton ; were 

 yon born there? Answer. No; Iwas boruin Chester, Luuenburg County, 

 Nova Scotia, September 29, 1806. 



Q. Without giving precise details of your catches during your 21 years 

 of experience in the bay as a fisherman, will you tell ine what proportion 

 of the fish you caught during this period was taken within the 3-mile 

 limit * A. Possibly 10 per cent. 10 barrels out of 100; and I think 

 that would be a large proportion, because during the 21 seasons I was 

 in the bay the most mackerel I ever so caught was in my second year. 



Q. Being a fisherman of that experience, what sort of advantage do 

 you think it is to have the right to fish within the 3-mile limit in British 

 waters ; do you attach much importance to it I A. Well, if I had to go 

 in the bay J should not calculate that inshore fishing was worth any- 

 thing at all. I would only go inshore to make harbors and dress fish. 

 I would not give a snap of my finger for the inshore fisheries. When 

 licenses cost 50 cents a ton I would not pay it. I would rather fish in 

 my own waters, because I could do better there. 



Q. You never took a license out ? A. I never did. I was for three 

 years in the bay when they were issued, but I would not take one out. 

 I did not want them. 



Q. You were then master of your own vessel ? A. Yes; I owned the 

 vesvsel and was master. 



Q. And you ran the risk ? A. I fished in my own waters, 3, 4, 5, 10 

 and 20 miles off land, and I always did better there than inshore. I 

 would not give a cent for the inshore fisheries. All I would go inshore 

 for would be to make a harbor. 



Q. You never had any trouble with the cutters! A. No; save once 

 when they chased me. 



Q. But that was no trouble ? A. O, no; it was only for doing a. kind 

 act. 



Q. Besides having fished for 21 years in the bay, did you fish much 

 on our own coast ? A. I did. 



Q. How does the fishing on our coast compare with the fishing in the 

 bay ? A. I have myself always done better on our own shore, with the 

 exception of one year, than I ever did in North Bay. 



Q. During how many years did you fish on our shore? A. I think I 

 fished there 8 seasons, or somewhere about that ; it was perhaps a little 

 more, but I know I fished there 8 years. 



Q. If you found the fishing on our shore so much better than the fish- 

 jng in the bay, why did yon go to the bay ? A. Well, there was just 

 one principle on which we used mostly to go to the bay ; the fact is that 

 when we shipped a crew at Cape Cod, after we had been off for a fort- 

 night or 3 weeks on our shore, men would leave the vessel ; but when 

 we got a crew and came to North Bay, they had to stay on board ; 

 there was then no back door to crawl out of. This was one of the chief 

 reasons for coming to the bay, as we then had no trouble in the shipping 

 of hands, good* bad, or indifferent ; but when we were down on our shore, 

 men would go off and we would have to secure new hands. Men would 

 think they might do better, and they would go where the high line was; 

 and we were then under the necessity of supplying their places. Another 

 thing was, that by going to the bay, we got clear of the fog. On our 



