AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 3405 



rent finds its way. On George's Shoals the marine life is almost of an 

 Arctic character, according to Verrill, and it resembles an oasis of cold- 

 blooded animals surrounded by the Gulf Stream. 



Q. Have you ever turned your attention to see whether the present 

 mode of fishing on the American coast is capable of, or likely to, de- 

 plete that coast of its codfish and mackerel ? State your views. A. 

 With regard to that subject, if you will allow me, 1 will exhibit a map 

 or. chart, showing the distribution of the cod in Europe and America. 

 {Chart exhibited.) You will find by an examination of this map that it 

 is only where extreme cold water exists that cod is found throughout 

 the year ; and upon the American coast it is only where the Arctic cur- 

 rent strikes, that cod is found through the year. 



Q. I wish to know from you whether the mode of fishing in the United 

 Sta es will deplete those waters of the cod and mackerel, or not? A. 

 Considering the mode in which the cod and mackerel spawn, I think 

 there can be no doubt whatever that it is quite possible through human 

 agency to destroy, as has been destroyed on the coast of New England, 

 the cod fishery, and also, to a considerable extent, the mackerel fisher- 

 ies, simply because the area of cold water, which is absolutely necessary 

 for the sustenance of those fish, is so comparatively small, and is being 

 constantly reduced during the summer season. The proportion of the 

 area of cold water opposite the coast of the United States, compared 

 with the area of cold water opposite the coast of the Dominion, is as 45 

 to 200; in other words, if the United States has 45,000 square miles swept 

 by the Arctic current the Dominion has 200,000 square miles; and every 

 portion of the food supply which comes to the United States has to pass 

 through Dominion waters, or by the waters of Newfoundland, simply be- 

 cause the Arctic current is constantly bringing the original supply of 

 food from the north. Although our seas appear to be very abundant in 

 life, yet, nevertheless, they are almost deserts compared with the won- 

 derful abundance of life in the northern seas, particularly on the Lab- 

 rador and Greenland coasts during the summer mouths. The sea, at 

 times, appears to be perfectly thick with life, and to such an extraordi- 

 nary extent does life exist in the northern seas, that the thermometer is 

 very materially influenced during a single night by animal life. In a 

 few hours the animal life disappears utterly, and the thermometer sinks 

 two, three, or four degrees, and the water becomes colder. On another 

 day the zone of life rises again, but it is always being driven to and fro 

 by means of the Arctic current, and it follows the course of the great 

 stream of ice which produces the cold in Labrador and the cold gener- 

 ally throughout the Western World. 



Q. I uuderstandtthat where the Arctic current strikes, there are the 

 fishes to be found which require about 37 degrees of cold f A. We are 

 indebted to the Arctic current exclusively for all the cold-water fish, cod, 

 mackerel, haddock, pollock, hake, ling, and beside all the minor fish on 

 which they feed, such as caplin, smelt, launce, and added to these a vast 

 number of meduscc, various kinds of shell-fish and star-fish, all of which 

 are most abundant in the northern seas. The Banks on the shores of 

 Greenland are richer than any cod-banks in any other part of (he world, 

 and have been so described by various naturalists who have visited 

 there. 



Q. Take the George cod-banks or any other cod banks opposite the 

 United States coast, has the supply of Msh on those Banks materially 

 diminished of late years ? I wish you to contrast the fishing there \viih 

 tbe fishing on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland or that on the Banks 

 to the south of Newfoundland. A. Personally I know nothing about 



