AWARD OF THE FISHERY* COMMISSION. 3261 



No. 190. 



William T. England being duly sworn says : I am titty six years old, 

 live at middle Millford Guysboro' County N. S. since I was 11 years old 

 up to about 7 years ago I have been out fishing in fishing vessels, mostly 

 American vessels, that is I have been fishing in vessels for 40 years, 

 during the last 7 years I have been boat fishing and farming as far as 

 I know the Americans don't dry their nets on the British Coasts nor do 

 they cure their fish on them the bait used for mackerel is Porgies and 

 clams and these all come from the United States herring is now but 

 very rarely used for bait and never except by Provincial vessels the 

 bait for codfish used by Americans in the Gulf of St Lawrence is mostly 

 caught by themselves on the fishing grounds by the Americans and 

 caught consequently in the deep seas I have often sold bait to the 

 Americans going to the grand banks of Newfoundland codfishing the 

 cod fishers going to the grand banks buy nearly all the bait they use, 

 they use during the trip from 30 to 40 barrels of herring, buying it 

 partly by the barrel, but often by the hundred the hundred costs them 

 from one dollar to one dollar and a quarter ; it is much more profitable 

 to the fishermen to sell their fish to the Bankers for bait than to salt 

 and pack them in barrels and sell them to the merchants I don't think 

 that Provincial fishermen catch any less mackerel on account of fishing 

 alongside of an American fleet during some seasons or rather series 

 of seasons there are among the mackerel a great many old ones and 

 then the mackerel keep much more off-shore in the deep seas, then fol- 

 lows a series of seasons when old mackerel are very scarce and almost 

 to have disappeared and during such periods the mackerel will keep 

 much more iu-shore those mackerel that are comparatively young 

 always prefer to keep more in-shore I have never known as small an 

 American cod-and mackerel fleet in the Gulf of St Lawrence as during 

 the last two years and especially last year because the catch of mack- 

 erel was very poor. The American fleet, leaves every season, especially 

 when mackerel are plenty considerable money among us and are there- 

 fore and because they employ many of our men of considerable benefit 

 to our coasts and as far as I know they don't do any harm to any of 

 our interest all along the Strait of Canso the American fishing vessels 

 that go to the Magdalen Islands herring fishing, about on an average 

 40 (fourty) sails a season, hire boats and men they each hire on an 

 average 3 or 4 boats with as many men for an average trip of from 3 to 

 4 weeks they pay as high as $30^^ to $35 T ^L for a man and boat I 

 myself went this spring with an American herring catcher to the Mag- 

 dalen Islands I was three weeks away and got $35^0 for the trip 



Dated Middle Millford Guysboro Co. Nova Scotia August 7th 1877 



his 



WILLIAM T. + ENGLAND 

 mark. 



In presence of : 



OSCAR MALMROS 



PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA 

 COUNTY OF GUYSBOROUGH 



I hereby Certify that the above named William T. England volunta- 

 rily made oath to and subscribed before me the foregoing 1 statement 



Given under my hand and Notarial Seal at Middle Milford in the Co 

 of Guysborough Province of Nova Scotia this 7th day of August 1877 



(Seal.) JAMES G. McKEEN 



Notary Public 



