2846 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. And in winter? A. I do not think that they are caught in winter 

 north of Cape Cod ; I do not tbink so ; but so little is known of the 

 biology and the natural history of herring that this might be the fact, and 

 yet it be not known I mean not known to the ordinary public. It was 

 entirely new to me five years ago that herring spawned on the Massa- 

 chusetts coast at all. 



Q. Then there is no winter herring-fishery there ? A. The winter 

 fishery is a very small one ; it is carried on around Block Island and 

 Narragausett Bay, but whether capabilities exist for prosecuting a win- 

 ter fishery elsewhere on the coast I cannot say. 



Q. How do you account then for the fact that such a number of your 

 vessels come to the southern coast of Newfoundland for herring, if they 

 are so prolific on your own coast ? A. That I cannot say. Why trade 

 follows one line or direction rather than another I do not know. They 

 may not have appliances for catching them on our coast, and they may 

 not have the means of taking them in such quantities as is possible at 

 Newfoundland ; but it is certainly a notorious fact that herring are much 

 more abundant on the coast of Newfoundland than they are on the coast 

 of the United States ; though whether the herring that are wanted on 

 the United States coast could or could not be had in the United States, 

 I cannot say; but I do think that herring are vastly more abundant in 

 Newfoundland and the Bay of Fundy than they are farther south. 



Q. That accounts, then, for the number of your vessels that come to 

 Newfoundland for them, no doubt. Give us the number of miles of 

 United States coast along which fishing rights have been conceded to 

 British subjects under the Washington Treaty ? A. 1,112. 



Q. Can you give the extent of the Dominion coast, including that of 

 Newfoundland ? A. Yes ; the coast line of the Province of Canada is 

 810 miles ; of New Brunswick, 1,000 miles ; of Nova Scotia, 390 miles ; 

 of Newfoundland, 1,650 miles; of Grand Mauan, 30 miles; of Prince 

 Edward Island, 285 miles; of the Magdalen Islands, 85 miles; and of 

 Anticosti Island, 265 miles ; the total length of the coast line of East- 

 ern British North America is 4,515 miles, four times that of the United 

 States east of Cape Cod. 



By Mr. Dana : 



Q. Following the bays I A. Following the large bays, but omitting 

 the smaller ones. 



By Mr. Whiteway : 



Q. In your statement regarding the annual product of the Dominion 

 fisheries, you have not included the Newfoundland fisheries ? A. No; 

 I have only that of the Dominion of Canada. 



Q. Are you aware that something like 1,500,000 or 1,600,000 quintals 

 of fish are caught in Newfoundland alone ! A. I think that is very 

 probable, but I do not know. 



Q. Besides the large herring fishery? A. I am very auxions to know 

 exactly what the Newfoundland catch is; I have made inquiries respect- 

 ing it; but I have not been able to obtain any such public data. 



Q. You say that the depletion of the codfish on the coast has been 

 the result of the depletion of the river fisheries on the coast of Massa- 

 chusetts ? A. I gave that as presumably one reason for it. It is prob- ' 

 ably a very important element in the fishery. 



Q. Then any act which may prove injurious to the bay fisheries on 

 the coast would seriously aft'ect the inshore fisheries by removing that 

 which induced the cod to go on the coast I A. Yes ; it would have its 

 effect, 1 think. Possibly a very decided eftect. 



