AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 3093 



fat mackerel and nearly all their poor mackerel Fat mackerel 

 when carried into southern latitudes and then- is no market fur 

 except in the United States and there not south of <'heMa|enke liav 

 The United States also furnished the chief market for tin* l.ir^e oodfoh 

 which sell here to better advantage than anywhere else, the small CH|. 

 fish caught by the provincial fishermen go to the \Ve*t Indira, SIM In ami 

 Great Britain. 



Nearly all the smoked herring from the province* come into the 

 United States. The ale wife fishery, salmon fresh ami Halt ; Urge 

 amounts of fish oils nearly all that is produced in the province rume 

 into the United States. The eftect of free importations Mince the Treaty 

 of Washington has been very injurious to the fishing interentN of the 

 U. S. the competition caused by it has nearly ruined the profit* of the 

 business. 



And inasmuch as the cost of building and equipping a vex-wl in the 

 provinces is much less than in the United States, from a third to a 

 quarter less if there were as many fishermen in the province* u* in the 

 United States and they had equal capital, skill and energy the primi 

 pal fishing business would be transferred to the provinces. 



My business experience is that the eftect of the present treaty in and 

 that of the former Reciprocity Treaty during its continuance, WH.H, that 

 the free importation offish from the British provinces is a great injury 

 to the United States fishermen and far outweighs any benefit they may 

 derive from fishing inshore 



As to the eftect upon the prices of fish to the consumer of free imjHirta- 

 tions under the treaty, there has not yet been any perccptahle reduction of 

 prices in the retail business although four years out of the ten named in 

 the treaty have already elapsed. In fact, the profits of the tinning UHI- 

 ness are so small that it is no exaggeration to say that a fish in the *e 

 has no money value and that the cost of catching is so great that the 

 return upon capital invested in the fisheries is small and does not aver- 

 age as well as the returns from capital in other branches of business, the 

 profit is all made on shore by the curers and dealers who buy frmn the 

 fishermen. 



CHARLES II. PEW 



COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS 



ESSEX ss GLOUCESTER I >eo 1*73 



Then personally appeared the abovenamed Charles II. IVw to me 

 known and made oath that all the foregoing statements 

 scribed are true to the best of his knowledge and Mief- 



DAVID \N . LOU 

 Xotary 



I, Alfred Mansfield of Gloucester of the County of Es*ex and rom 

 monwealth of Massachusetts being duly sworn dodepoi 

 I have been engaged in the fishing business for the last 

 a member of the firm of James Mansfield & Sons- 

 course of the two preceding fishing seasons frequent opi>oi 

 conversation with intelligent and well informed NOT. Scotm c 

 and fishermen residing in the southern portion ot Nova S 

 people of that region are now more extensively than ev, 

 attention to the catching of codfish both in their own mime. 

 and on the more distant fishing banks-Attention u. I 

 these fisheries on the part of capitalists who previous!; 



