216 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



In the report of the Commissioner of Fisheries of Canada for the year 1875 is the following 

 reference to the whale fishery : 



" Whaling expeditions on our coasts began only when the New England loyalists settled on 

 the shores of Gaspe, after the peace of 1763. Experienced in whale hunting, which they had prac- 

 ticed on the coast of New England, these settlers were not long in discovering what profits could 

 be made by following a pursuit which they were well versed in. Such were the beginning of the 

 first whaling expeditions. Vessels engaged in them were not at first numerous, being composed 

 of small craft, but their number became larger by degrees, and in a short time not less than one 

 dozen fine large schooners were reckoned as being engaged in that fishery. This was the golden 

 time for Gaspe, and the oldest inhabitants, who still remember the enormous profits realized in 

 these expeditions, cannot sufficiently condemn the improvidence of whalers who were not prudent 

 enough to secure at that time the wealth and abundance which was pouring on them. The ntiin 

 ber of schooners engaged in this pursuit has gradually decreased until it is now reduced to three. 



"The waters of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence are frequented by three kinds of whales, but the 

 species most sought after is that called the humpbacked, so named from the peculiar formation of 

 their backs. Whales had been so eagerly pursued for some years past by Gasp6 fishermen that 

 they disappeared for the same causes, 1 presume, which led them to abandon the shores of Europe 

 and America. This fishery having become nuremunerative was abandoned. Helped by this short 

 breathing time whales had an opportunity to reproduce their species, and during the past two 

 years they have been noticed in as large quantities as formerly. Whalers engaged in fishing this 

 season state they saw thousands of them in the Gulf, but that bad weather prevented the making 

 of a large catch. Three vessels fitted out at Gaspe Basin during the month of June, and had fair 

 success the Admiration, Captain Tripp; the Lord Douglass, Captain Baker, and the Violet, 

 Captain Suddard. The results of these expeditions were as follows : 



"The fishing mostly took place on the coast of Labrador and in the Strait of Belle Isle; the 

 cargo of the Violet was secured within a short distance from Gasp6. This fishery would have been 

 twice as productive had not rough weather and floating ice made navigation dangerous during the 

 summer and fall. Oil sold for 50 cents a gallon." 



For the season of 1880 the following report is made by Mr. George H. Hall, United States 

 consul at Gaspe" Basin : 



" Whaling has proved so unremunerative a pursuit for a number of years past that there 

 remains but one small vessel employed in that business. The voyage occupies the summer months, 

 and generally is in the vicinity of the Strait of Belle Isle. About 9,000 gallons of oil, a few hun- 

 dredweight of small whalebone, and a few barrels of whale meat were the product of this sum- 

 mer's cruise. Price of oil, 45 cents per gallon ; whalebone (small), $10 per cwt." 



The condition of the whale fisheries within the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in 1852 is discussed 

 by Mr. M. H. Perley, as follows : * 



* Reports on the Sea and River Fisheries of New Brunswick. By Mr. M. H. PERLEY, Fredericton, 1852. 



