2938 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



bay, and the catch on your coast was very small, as it is this year, in 

 an exceptional case like that the duty would be paid by the consumer, 

 because the price would go up ? A. Well, if you had all the mackerel, 

 of course. 



Q. Well, if the statement was true that three-fourths of the mackerel 

 that are taken out of the gulf are taken withiu the limits, that would 

 have an appreciable effect upon the question who paid the duty ? A. I 

 think it would. 



Q. It is just a question of fact ? A. Yes. 



Q. Now, you say a Gloucester Vessel twelve years old is as good as a 

 provincial vessel new. How long do those vessels last ? They must 

 last a very good length of time. A. Well, we lose a great many, but we 

 have vessels thirty and forty years old. 



Q. I suppose thirty years old would not be beyond the average length 

 she ought to last ? A. If she was not lost. Yes, sir ; they will last that 

 time and longer. 



Q. You said, of late years there were no vessels fishing cod and hali- 

 but promiscuously, but it used to be so ? A. I said fishing cod aud 

 mackerel promiscuously. 



Q. A gentleman said yesterday there was about 100 vessels of the 

 cod-fishing fleet that were accustomed to take m >re or less halibut. I 

 think it was Mr. Pew. He said 31 vessels devoted themselves exclu- 

 sively to halibut-fishing, and a hundred of the cod-fishers took occa- 

 sional catches of halibut ? A. This is right. They go with ice and bait 

 and get both. 



Q. On the Seal Island ground you have never been in fishing close to 

 the shore ? A. No. 



Q. You can't tell what is taken there I A. I could not tell anything 

 about it; but we never knew any thing about its being a fishing-ground. 

 Never thought of such a thing. I could not say there was none, but if 

 there was I could not tell where any came from. 



Q. I presume they came from the sea! A. I mean the vessels. 



Q. How many years since you have been there ! A. I haven't been 

 there since 1852 or 1853, 1854 and 1855. I was only there one or two 

 trips, but before I left the halibut all broke up there. 



Q. I think you would not care about saying what the fact is now ? 

 A. No; any more than that I know where our own vessels go. 



Q. You don't profess to know where the 31 halibut-fishers go every 

 year, do you ? A. Yes ; I know where the other vessels go as well as 

 my own. 



Q. Well, do you know where the 100 that catch both cod and halibut 

 go ? A. Yes ; they go to the Georges. 



Q. I am not speaking of what your general belief is, but now you 

 are giving evidence as to your knowledge. A. Well, we send them to 

 the Georges, aud they come back and say they have been to the Georges, 

 and tell me what part of the Bank they have fished on, in how deep 

 water, and all that. I am as familiar with the Bank as they are. 



Q. Do you know anything of the New London vessels ? Do you 

 know where they go? A. No, I don't know anything about them. 



Q. I just want to know if you would contradict a witness who lived 

 on the spot where we say the halibut is caught and who said he saw 

 them caught there ? A. No. 



Q. You haven't been personally in the Newfoundland herring business 

 yourself ? A. No. Only one trip. 



Q. You have given a statement of what vessels you have had in the 

 bay last year as compared with the shore. I notice a great many of 



