AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 3293 



No. 222. 



I Robert J. Reeves of Gloucester in the County of Essex and Com- 

 monwealth of Massachusetts, being duly sworn do depose and say that 

 I am thirty-nine years of age and am the Captain of the three-masted 

 schooner William I Shepard of 475 tons burden, that I have been 

 engaged in the Newfoundland herring trade for about eight years and 

 during that time I made a voyage each winter to the coast of Newfound- 

 land usually to Fortune Bay for the purpose of purchasing cargoes of 

 frozen herrings of the inhabitants, that I have never fished for herring on 

 that coast and have never known of any American vessels catching 

 herring there, the usual course is for the American vessels to purchase 

 their cargo from the fishermen paying them in gold from one to two 

 dollars per barrel for the hering fresh, sometimes they pay for them in 

 v provisions but at the same rate as in money Our vessels are not fur- 

 nished for fishing 1 and do not carry nets, they enter regularly at the 

 Custom-house and when they cary goods with which to purchase the 

 herring, they pay the duties It is much cheaper for us to purchase the 

 herring from the Newfoundland fishermen than to catch them ourselves, 

 the inhabitants of the country around Fortune Bay depend during the 

 winter for their living entirely upon the trade with American vessels 

 and without it they would soon starve ; the. American vessels pay on an 

 average each from six hundred to one thousand dollars for the herring 

 No objection has ever been made to the Americans purchasing herring, 

 to my knowledge, the inhabitants are glad to have Americans come as 

 it is the only market they have for their herring during the winter 



EGBERT J. REEVES 



COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS 



ESSEX ss GLOUCESTER July 1877 



Then personally appeared the abovenarned Robert J. Reeves and 



made oath that all the foregoing facts were true to the best of his 



knowledge and belief before me 



(Seal.) DAVID W. LOW 



Notary Public 



No. 223. 



GLOUCESTER, Aug 18, 1877 



I Win H Kirby was born in Reddington, Berkshire, England, and am 



. 37 years of age and on oath do depose and say that I have been engaged 



in the American Fisheries 19 years I have been Master of the Schooners 



Eliza K Parker, B D Haskins Amos, Cutter, Ocean Lodge Right Bower, 



Chas A Ropes Cornelius Stokem, of Gloucester & Salem State of Mass. 



I have been engaged in the Bank Fisheries for Cod & Halibut & Gulf 



of St Lawrence for Mackerel & Newfoundland and Magdelen Island 



Herring fishery. The American Cod & Halibut fishery is entirely a deep 



sea fishery I always carried Clams and Porgie slivers and obtained the 



rest of my bait on the Banks viz (fishes peas & squid) I never took any 



Codfish or Halibut within three miles of the shore and none within 30 



miles of land I went fifteen seasons in the Gulf of St Lawrence, occupy- 



ing about 5 months each seasou My highest stock from the Gulf of St 



Lawrence was $ 6,400,00 and my lowest $2300,00 



An American vessel maiiued and equipped for a seasou of five months 



