3436 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. How do you account for that ? A. I do not. Professor Yerrill 

 accounts for it* by a spur of the Arctic current coming in from the Nan- 

 tucket shoals and passing around Block Island. 



Q. There is a cold wave of water at that particular point? A. Yes. 

 In the month of June they are driven out by the Gulf Stream. 



Q. But the mackerel are taken in substantially the same locality all 

 through the season from early spring to late in the autumn, are they not! 

 A. I understand that all around the neighborhood of Block Island 

 they are taken in early spring, and that is their great spawning ground. 



Q. Undoubtedly they are taken in the early spring. Are they not in 

 midsummer? A. I was not aware of it. I never heard of any being 

 taken then. 



Q. Do you think it can be laid down as a rule that the mackerel off 

 the United States coast are caught nearer inshore iu the spring and fall 

 than in the summer months ? A. Certainly. 



Q. You are satisfied of that as a fact. I don't mean that it would be 

 in accordance with your theory, but are you satisfied, from the observa- 

 tions of facts that you have made, that the actual facts will bear out that 

 view? A. Quite irrespective of theory, I judge solely from the various 

 descriptions that I have heard that the fish in the spring and fall are 

 largely inshore. In the summer it is not so. That is expressly said by 

 Professor Yerrill, not in regard to mackerel particular!}', but as to all 

 fish, iu his elaborate report for 1872 as well as in the American. Journal 

 of Science for 1873. 



Q. Well, I have seen Professor Yerrill's report, but didn't you under- 

 stand that the American skippers have been getting very large hauls of 

 mackerel in the summer mouths as well as in the spring and autumn ? 

 A. You mean away out a good many miles; certainly. 



Q. And close iu ? A. I don't know about close in ; but I know they 

 sail 30 or 40 miles out and get them in abundance. 



Q. There is no question about that. Don't they also get them quite 

 near inshore ? A. I think they do in Massachusetts Bay and near Still- 

 wanger Bank. 



Q. Would they not get them on the Banks wherever they are, pretty 

 near shore or far out? A. Always on the Banks in the locality of the 

 Arctic current. 



Q. Well, now, one or two more questions about the cod fishery I want 

 to ask you. You spoke of the French fishing at St. Peter's ; is not that 

 an uncertain fishery, lasting only a short time ? A. There is a very 

 remarkable circumstance connected with the French fishery. 



Q. What is it ? A. It has been pointed out in a very elaborate man- 

 ner by Admiral Cloud. It is this: that for the period of three or four or 

 five years the French fishery on the Grand Banks is good, and then 

 declines, but as soon as it begins to decline the French fishery on the 

 northeast coast of Newfoundland begins to be good, and many of their 

 vessels go there. That in turn will continue good for a period of three 

 or four years, and then declines. Meanwhile the Bank fishery is recu- 

 perated. 



Q. To what do you attribute that, or what do you infer from it ? A. 

 I should be sorry to draw any special inference from a general state- 

 ment like that. All the fisheries fluctuate. It depends very much upon 

 the seasons of the year, and especially upon the temperature of the 

 month of April. I have called especial attention to that in this paper. 



Q. Now, the Gulf of St. Lawrence is a succession of Banks, some of 

 which are laid down on charts and some of which are not big enough 

 to get on the charts. A. Well, I should not describe it in that way. 



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