2908 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. You never were a practical fisherman, I believe ? A. No ; I never 

 went fishing. 



Q. When did you actually go into the fishing business on your own 

 account ? A. On nay own account in 1855. 



Q. Previous to that you had been a clerk, or otherwise, in a fishing- 

 house 1 A. I had. 



Q. How many years ? A. Six years. 



Q. In what fishing house ? A. J. Mansfield & Sons. 



Q. Was that one of the largest firms in Gloucester? A. Yes; at that 

 time it was one of the largest houses. It had been engaged in the fish- 

 eries 70 or 80 years. 



Q. In all kinds of fishing ? A. General fishing. 



Q. You began with one vessel, I suppose ? A. Yes; a small iuterest 

 in only one vessel in the bay fishery. 



Q. Do you recollect what she made? A. About 200 barrels of fish. 



Q. In 1856 how many vessels had you ? A. One vessel. 



Q. In 1857 ? A. I had one vessel, West Gleam, fitted out for seining, 

 and I sent her into the North Bay. 



Q. Purse-seining ? A. It was a seine adapted to either pursing or 

 drawing on shore, as we make them sometimes. 



Q. What luck had you with purse-seining in 1857? A. I made a 

 very successful voyage. The vessel packed 520 barrels, I think. 



Q. Have you done anything like it since ? A. No. 



Q. What did you do in 1858 ? A. In 1858, from the fact of having 

 made a successful voyage in the previous year, I fitted out three large 

 vessels with seines for the same business. 



Q. What did the different vessels take that year? A. One packed 

 273 barrels, another 270, and the third 47 barrels. 



Q. Were those, in fact, taken by seines? A. They were not. 



Q. How was the seining? A. It was not successful; very few were 

 taken. They were mostly taken with hooks. 



Q. Then, so far as seining was concerned, the trips were a total fail- 

 ure ? A. I consider so. 



Q. How were those vessels commanded ? A. One was commanded 

 by the same man who was successful the previous year, another was 

 commanded by his sou, and the third by a competent man who has been 

 a witness here, Ezra Turner, of Isle of Haut. 



Q. The fish that were obtained were taken by hooks ? A. Most of 

 them, as I have reason to believe ; a small portion may have been taken 

 with seine. 



Q. Were those taken with hook taken inshore or offshore ? A. I per- 

 sonally have no information on the subject. 



Q. Do you happen to know from the reports of the masters ? A. Yes. 



Q. How was it ? A. The report from two of them was that they went 

 round the Newfoundland coast, and to the Magdalen Islands, and caught 

 most of the mackerel there. As regards the third man, I have no recol- 

 lection as to where he caught his mackerel. 



Q. In 1859, did you send out a seiner ? A. I sent two of those same 

 vessels into the bay. One of them caught 182 barrels, and the voyage 

 of the other was nearly a failure ; it caught very few mackerel ; 20-odd 

 barrels. 



Q. Were those 180-odd barrels taken by hook or seine ? A. I think 

 with hooks ; I am not positive. 



Q. In 1860, how many vessels did you send to the bay ? A. Only 

 one. 



Q. How was she fitted out ? A. With a seine and small boats for the 



