3414 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. How many dories or boats have they ! A. I could not say. I 

 never entered into those particulars. 



Q. When do the mackerel appear on the Magdalen Islands ? A. The 

 mackerel come in there from the 60-fathom line of the soundings, or 

 wherever they may winter, about the last of May, from the last of May 

 to the 12th of June. In some instances a good many mackerel are 

 caught there before the 1st of June : that is to say, the so-called 

 spring mackerel or lean mackerel. I have prepared a table showing 

 the period of their arrival during perhaps 14 or 15 years. 



Q. Have you that table with you ? A. Yes. This always takes 

 place about one month after the arrival of the herring. In 1857 the 

 mackerel arrived there on June 1 ; in 1860, on June 1 ; in 1862, on June 

 4; in 1863, on June 12; in 1864, on June 6; in 1865, on May 30; in 

 1866, on May 29 ; in 1867, on June 2. I can get no record for 1868 and 

 1869, but in 1871 they arrived on May 31. For 1872 I have no record. 

 In 1873, on June 5 ; in 1874, on June 7 ; in 1875, on June 8, and in 1876, 

 on June 6. 



Q. How do these periods of time correspond with the appearance of 

 the mackerel on the coast of the United States? A. There are gener- 

 ally from 6 to 8 days' difference between the appearances. I have here 

 a record of their appearance on the coast of the United States, and I 

 find that the dates vary in a remarkable manner each year. For in- 

 stance, at the Waquoit Weir, in Massachusetts Bay, in 1875 the mack- 

 erel appeared on the 25th of April, and in 1872 on the 10th of May, 

 showing a difference in time of 15 days, whereas at the Magdalen Isl- 

 ands they appeared in 1871 on the 31st of May, and in 1872 on the 20th 

 of June, showing a difference in time of 21 days, though this must be a 

 mistake. 



By Sir Alexander Gait : 



Q. Would you turn back to your table concerning their arrival at the 

 Magdalen Islands ? A. It must be a mistake. I find that here for 

 1872 no date is given. 



By Mr. Whiteway : 



Q. Could you, by reference, correct that ? A. O, yes. 



Q. Could you do it to-morrow ? A. Perhaps I had better do it pre- 

 viously. 



Q. Will you describe the different forms and descriptions of ice, and 

 how these operate upon or affect the fishery ? A. There are three forms 

 of ice which exercise an influence over the fisheries in our waters ; these 

 three forms are, first of all, fresh-water ice as it occurs in the form of 

 icebergs; secondly, the ice which occurs in the form of salt- water ice; 

 and thirdly, the ice which occurs in the form of ground ice, or ice which 

 is formed at the bottom of the sea. The most important form of all is 

 the floe ice, or salt-water ice ; but icebergs have little or no effect at all 

 on the movements of the fish, simply because the cold which they pro- 

 duce is always brought to the surface, owing to the small specific gravity 

 of the water resulting from the melting of icebergs; but the floe ice is 

 composed of salt-water ice, and always has a temperature of about three 

 degrees below the ordinary freezing point of water. . That is due to the 

 circumstance of a very considerable quantity of brine being entangled 

 in the process of freezing, and the result of this is that wherever salt- 

 water ice is drifted into a sea area it cools the sea area down to its own 

 temperature, which is never less at the bottom of the ice floe than 29 

 degrees, and sometimes even 28 degrees. Then, again, when the salt- 

 water ice melts, the coldest portions always necessarily melt first, and 



