AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 3427 



opportuuities. There are three points in this regard. Then, again, on 

 the coast of Prince Edward Island, owing to the uncertain winds which 

 get in there, the mackerel move from one point in the great bight to 

 another point; and if they possessed sailing- boats or decked boats,- 

 which would enable them to remain out one night or two or three nights, 

 they would then be able to follow these fish to a much greater extent 

 than they now do. These are four points in respect of which the use 

 of decked boats or vessels of from 15 to 20 tons would enable them to 

 add materially to their present profits. At the present time these fish- 

 ermen make a mere living, but if they were to carry on this fishery in 

 the way I have mentioned, it would become to them excedingly profit- 

 able. . 



Q. You mean that this would be the case if they had large vessels ? 

 A. Yes ; vessels of larger size, of from 18 to 20 tons, for example. 



Q. The Americans have very large fishing-vessels ? A. Yes. 



Q. Is it a precarious and uncertain business to them ? A. It is, in 

 this way : The great difficulty with them is to reach the gulf in time to 

 take advantage of the spring fishery. You very rarely find the Ameri- 

 cans enter the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and reach Orphan or Bradell (or 

 Bradley) Bank or the Bay of Chaleurs save for what is called the summer 

 fishery. This fishery takes place after the fish have spawned ; and in 

 consequence of this fact they lose in the gulf the advantages of the 

 spring fishery which they gain on their own shores. 



Q. Then there is a spring fishery on the American shore ? A. Cer- 

 tainly. 



Q. Which they gain ? A. Yes. 



Q. Is it still true, as you remark somewhere, that the mackerel are 

 found in great numbers on the New England coast in the summer and 

 autumn *? A. I do not think that is the case there in summer ; but I 

 think that in autumn the mackerel come in there ; I am not aware of 

 their coming in there in large numbers in summer ; I think that the 

 temperature of the water there is too warm for them. 



Q. You say : 



When the mackerel has appeared on the coast of the United States and the southern 

 part of New England, they are so poor that they cannot be sold for food; but after 

 they have spawned, in May, they rapidly increase in fat, and are taken in great num- 

 bers in the summer and fall f 



Q. A. Yes. 



Q. That is what I read from your book !--A. Will you refer to the 

 page? 



Q. This is on page 79, sixty-sixth article ? A. You will observe that 

 this is a quotation. 



Q. I do not see that no quotation-marks are here ? A. It refers to 

 No. 6, and is a quotation from the Report of the United States Commis- 

 sioner of Fish and Fisheries. 



Q. Indeed, the quotation ends on page 79, with the 1st, 2d, and 3d 

 paragraph. A. True, it is not strictly a quotation, but a reference to 

 a quotation. 



Q. A reference ? A. Yes ; to a quotation from the Report of the United 

 States Commissioner of Fisheries. 



Q. You stated that it was a quotation ? A. It amounts to the same 

 thing; it is a reference. 



Q. I cannot agree with you in this; to refer to a book is not to 

 quote? A. You are quite right ; I refer to the book as an authority. 



Q. For your own language? A. Strictly speaking, it is not a quota- 

 tion. 



