2832 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



of the Bureau of Statistics of the United States for 1876, the other fig- 

 ures are made up from a series of tables for each kind of fish. I had an 

 estimate prepared of the production of each fishery, and those figures 

 have been obtained partly from witnesses who have been here to testify, 

 partly from the books of dealers in Gloucester, Boston, Newburyport, 

 and elsewhere, partly and very largely from the returns I have gathered 

 through agents I have sent out, and from circulars I have distributed. 

 I have here an enumeration of all the different kinds of fish and quan- 

 tity caught ; it is simply a combined table from a great many sub tables. 



Q. These tables you will put into the case ? A. The tables were not 

 made up by me, but under my direction. They are put in by the com- 

 piler under an affidavit. 



Q. An examination will show they are very much in detail! A. These 

 tables, like all those of all nations, excepting, perhaps, those of France, 

 are imperfect, and are short of the true figures. I have no doubt that 

 a large percentage should be added to the tables of both nations in the 

 New World. But they are accurate as far as they go ; if they err, it is in 

 the direction of deficiency, not of excess. 



Q. It is so on both sides ? A. Yes. 



Q. You are allowed a pretty large staff of persons to assist you as 

 writers ! A. I have all the clerks and assistants I require. But a great 

 many of those returns have been made to circulars. I have distributed 

 through the Departments of the Treasury and Post-Office, and other 

 functionaries. 



Q. In view of those vast resources of the country, and the supply of 

 sea-fish of all kinds, the improved and increased methods of catching 

 the fish, do you think there is any one kind of fish, the entire failure of 

 which would prove a very serious matter, such, for instance, as the 

 mackerel obtained in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ? A. I do not think 

 that the entire failure of any kind of fish would affect the supply ; but 

 this would stimulate the fishermen to renewed efforts regarding some 

 other fish. If all the mackerel disappeared, their places would be sup- 

 plied by the Southern mullet, which are more abundant than the mack- 

 erel, and which could be taken in twice the quantity, if not more. If 

 every mackerel was destroyed the mackerel fishermen would go down to 

 the Southern coast, and take the mullet and pickle them. 



Q. Your last statement applies only to fish caught north of Cape 

 May ? A. Yes ; it does not include any Southern fisheries at all, or any 

 catch of the same fish in Southern waters, such as the bluefish or the 

 mackerel. 



By Mr. Foster : 



Q. Is Cape May far north of the treaty line ? A. It is directly on the 

 treat}" line ; this line cuts off Cape May and runs just at the north point 

 of the coast there. . 



By Mr. Dana : 



Q. So that these tables do not include the opening of Delaware 

 Bay? A. No ; but only the fisheries on the coast of New Jersey the 

 outer coast of New Jersey and from that northward. 



By Mr. Thomson : 



Q. All this evidence which you have given, with reference to the 

 mullet becoming the fish of the future, is mere matter of speculation, is 

 it not ? A. It is nothing more than what I judge from the excellence of 

 this fish, the ease with which they are taken, and the ease with which 





