16 8BAD FISHERY COMMlssiOX 



PKOCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSION AND PRECIS OF EVIDENCE TAKEN 

 AT THE PUBLIC SITTINGS OF THE COMMISSION, WITH COPIES OF 

 DOCUMENTS AND WRITTEN TESTIMONY SUBMITTED TO THE COM- 

 MISSIONERS. 



Opening Sitting. 

 The Court House, Digby, jST.S., July 29, 1908. 



Present : — 



Professor Edward E. Prlsxe, Ottawa, 

 S. F. Morrison, Folly Village, 



Com missioners. 



Pi'ofessor Prince, in opening tlie public sessions of the commission, said: — • 



Gentlemen, — ^In commencing the proceedings of the Shad Fishery Commission 

 appointed by the Dominion government, I feel bound to say a few words, and shall be 

 brief, in order to make clear the objects in view and the means we propose to adopt 

 for achieving those objects. 



As most of you are aware representations have for some years, been made to the 

 Fisheries Department in Ottawa, that the shad fishery was declining and indeed in 

 serious danger, and urging that some effective remedy should be adopted by the gov- 

 ernment. My colleague, Mr. Morrison, has been active in calling public attention to 

 the matter, and the climax was reached when last April a memorial signed by mem- 

 bers of the Legislative Council, members of the Provincial House, Halifax and other 

 influential men, was sent to Ottawa, asking for an investigation as to the facts relat- 

 ing to the shad fishery. I met many of the gentlemen who signed the memorial in the 

 Legislative Council Chamber, Halifax, last April and discussed the question at some 

 length. The result is the present commission of which Mr. Morrison is a member though 

 lie had no anticipation of being a commissioner when he stirred up the matter. Great 

 public interest has already been manifested in the commission's work which is of a 

 very grave and important nature. 



At present a weekly close time and a few subsidiary conditions are almost the 

 only protective measures now in force. They have according to the memorial not 

 saved the shad from depletion. As annual close season during the spawning time has 

 been urged, but many difficulties have prevented the adoption of such a season. Shad 

 enter fresh water only for spawning purposes and the catch might be seriously limited 

 except for the catches of July and August shad were it possible to take none legally 

 imless in salt water. The state of the fishery might warrant such measures, hut it is 

 for us as commissioners to receive evidence as to the facts and form our opinions and 

 arrive at our decisions at the conclusion of our investigations. 



If tliis commission at the end of its labours can recommend some reasonable steps 

 to bring back the shad to something of their former abimdanee and thus restore a 

 source of wealth and a supply of the finest food to the people along these Bay of 

 Fundy shores we shall be well satisfied. We think that it can be done, but we must 

 have the aid of the fishermen to acquire the information we desire. We want infor- 

 mation from experienced and practical men. Laws which are based on theory or on in- 

 sufficient information or worst of all on erroneous grounds must be harmful instead 

 of beneficial. I have been asked if the evidence is to be on oath. I prefer not, we can 

 require sworn testimony if we think that unreliable or wilfully misleading evidence is 

 being placed before us. Personally I feel that I can trust the men a portion of whose 

 earnings is disappearing as the shad disappears, to give us the best information they 

 as practical men possess. Mr. INforrison agrees with nic, T know, in this opinion. 



Many men can recall having their first experience in a shad boat when they were 

 very young, almost children. Many boast that their first success was gained with a 

 shad net, and their after success in life owed something to that early fishing experi- 

 ence. Big catches are recorded in former times. Individal catches of 10,000 or 15,000 



