AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2889 



Q. You bavealso been in the cod fishing business I A. That has been 

 the principal part of our fishing. 



Q. If you compared your cod and mackerel fishery, what proportion 

 would you say is cod and what proportion mackerel ? A. I have the 

 figures. Well, the mackerel would be a very small part of it. 



Q. Are the figures on the table which you have put in? A. Yes. 



Q. About what proportion would be cod, and what mackerel ? A. 

 The cod is over two thirds of it. 



Q. Which has been the more profitable ? A. The cod always. 



Q. What do you say about the comparative expediency of fishing for 

 cod with fresh or with salt bait on the Grand Banks ? A. That is a 

 pretty hard and difficult question. I can only answer it from our expe- 

 rience with our own vessels. 



Q. I only want your general idea respecting it? A. Well, I think 

 that if the vessels do not use fresh bait, and do not make a practice of 

 it, they will do just as well with salt bait; but if part of them used 

 fresh bait, the whole of them have to do so ; that would be nay judg- 

 ment. 



Q. I meant to have asked you, before we passed from the herring 

 business, whether anything is done in the exportation of herring from 

 the United States? A. We made one shipment,.! think. 



Q. Where ? A. To Gottenburg this last spring. 



Q. Others began the business in 1876 ? A. Yes ; the year before. 



Q. Are the herring which are exported caught on the United States 

 shore ? A. They are caught both there and in British waters. I should 

 say that one-half of those which are exported are caught in British 

 waters. 



Q. We have had some testimony as to the running expenses of ves- 

 sels ; what does it cost to run cod-fishing vessels that go to Georges 

 Bank, by the year ; and in the first place during how many months of 

 the year are they there? A. This varies a great deal ; cod-fishing ves- 

 sels would probably be for 9 months at Georges Bank, or 8 months 

 would perhaps be a fair average. 



Q. What would the running expenses be for a vessel which is there 

 8 or 9 months, for the year ? A. Well, I think that our vessels there 

 have cost us on the average $2,300 or $2,400, not including interest or 

 taxes, or, for the larger part of the time, insurance or depreciation. 



Q. You mean money actually paid out? A. I mean that is the 

 amount of the actual bills of the vessel, nothing else. 



Q. What is the yearly expenditure per vessel for anchors ? A. These 

 entail very large bills. 



Q. How much are they on the average? A. 1 do not know, but the 

 largest bill in this respect is entailed in the cod fishery at the Georges 

 Bank. 



Q. How many anchors would you lose per year? A. Well, the num- 

 ber varies. Vessels which do not lose more than an anchor a year would 

 be considered very fortunate. 



Q. Have you had occasion to purchase any mackerel from a provin- 

 cial vessel this summer, caught while fishing off our coast ?T A. Yes. 



Q. What was her name, what did she do, and what did you buy ? 

 A. She had been seining, and I think her name was the Harriet. She 

 belonged somewhere about Shelburne or Lockport, or somewhere about 

 there. She was seining on our shore, and we bought mackerel. 



Q. Where was this at ? A. At Gloucester. 



Q. She brought them there ? A. Yes, and landed them at our wharf. 

 We bought them before she landed them. 



