2872 AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



in your own mind as to the relative value of the two fisheries ? A. We 

 found, since I have been in the business, that our business has been 

 more profitable on our own coast. 



Q. Do you know what has been done, on the average, in the bay f I 

 mean per vessel ? A. Well, I guess you have the account here for my 

 firm. 



Q. You are a partner of Leigh ton I A. Yes. 



Q. Well, now, with regard to the halibut fishery, how many vessels 

 have been employed, and what has been your knowledge of it yourself? 

 How long have you been at it ? A. I followed that, I say, eleven and 

 a half years, from the first of April to the last of November; that is 

 what I practiced myself when I followed the water, to the middle of 

 November or so. 



Q. And where have you caught your halibut ? A. On what we call 

 the Seal Island ground, Brown's and Lahave, and in the Bay of Fundy, as 

 far as Grand Manan, Marblehead Bank, and so on. 



Q. In your experience, what sort of fishiug is it, off shore or within ? 

 A. Well, you can't gejb any halibut within three miles, nor on the three 

 miles. 



Q. Will you point out what course you ran when you were halibut- 

 fishing, and how near it brought you to Cape Sable Island f A. (Refers 

 to map and points out fishing-grounds.) 



Q. You know the waters from Seal Island toward Cape Sable an^d 

 Cape Sable Island ? A. Yes. 



Q. Have you ever known in your experience in that fishing, of any 

 fishing for halibut within three miles? A. No. It can't be got. 



Q. Let me call your attention to the testimony of a gentleman by the 

 name of William B. Smith, residing at Cape Sable Island. It is as fol- 

 lows (Reads evidence of William B. Smith, page 439 of the British 

 evidence, from the question: " With regard to halibut-fishing. Is there 

 any halibut-fishing carried on near Cape Sable Island?" To the ques- 

 tion : "Do they take the halibut they catch to market salted or fresh ?" 

 and the answer, inclusive) : Now, with your knowledge you say you 

 have yourself fished for eleven and a half years do you think there is 

 any possibility of that being true? 



Mr. THOMSON. Is that a general answer to the whole question ? 



Mr. TRESCOT. Well, I will ask them severally. 



Q. " With regard to halibut-fishing, is there any halibut-fishing car- 

 ried on near Cape Sable Island ? A. Not by British people; the Amer- 

 icans fish there." A. That is not the case. 



Q. " Every year ? A. Every year, regularly" A. They are not 

 to be found there in any such depth of water ; not so near. 



Q. " What is the number of the fleet which comes there to fish for 

 halibut? A. I have seen as hi qh as nine sail at onetime. I should 

 suppose there was from 40 to 60 sail." A. There never was that many 

 in the business in the world. 



Q. You have some knowledge of the matter ? A. I have. I know 

 every root' and branch of it; and when it was at the most it was in 

 those years that I was going. That was the most that ever was done 

 on those grounds. 



Q. How many halibut vessels from Gloucester are there do you sup- 

 pose? A. We ran at the most of any time 31 sail. These don't resort 

 to these grounds whatever. They resort to Grand Bank, Western Bank, 

 Quero, and all such as that. 



Q. What proportion of that fleet would be fishing about Seal Island, 



