INTERlil REPORT 57 



when crushed. Salmon are more plentiful than they used to be years ago, but there 

 were not so many this year. They run from 4 or 5 pounds up to 25 pounds. One 25 

 pounds was caught this year. Salmon 15 to IS pounds weight are taken but they are 

 rare; 4 or 5 pounds is the general weight. They breed in all our rivers along this 

 shore. Economy river, Bass river, &e. Poaching undoubtedly goes on, as it is impos- 

 sible for one man to look after all the waters. The worst destruction is due to dyna- 

 mite. As to the condition of the fish, salmon are in the best condition when taken by 

 our men, but fall off a little in September; they are not then in such good condition. 

 I send a few to Saratoga, but very few are shipped to the States. None are salted 

 Trout are not too plentiful in these rivers, hence no injury due to them. I think that 

 the catching of spawn shad should be prohibited wherever they occur. If weirs should 

 be allowed the small fish should be liberated imder a heavy penalty for violation, as a 

 lot of small shad are destroyed in weirs. A space, say 10 or 12 feet long, should be 

 arranged to let the small escape. 



John B. URt^LHAKT said shad have been scarce only a few years, say 10 or 12 

 years. The most I ever got in a tide was 250; it was down at Port a Pique. I don't 

 really go below Economy Point. The " shad feed ' is a bug which we get in our nets. 

 It seems to float. There is more of this feed in summer, but I have seen it in spring 

 at Eive Islands. We are not bothered with dogfish, not this year. I agree with pre- 

 vious witnesses that the taking of spawn shad in Shubenacadie and other rivers should 

 be prohibited. I have heard say that the seines destroy small shad, and they stop 

 everything little and big, but I have not seen small shad destroyed myself. 



LEiS-DER Vaxce said. I agree with the others. As to the large mesh suggested I 

 say you must get all the men along the coast to use the large mesh, not one lot of men 

 only. The shad strike the United States coast and come by St. John, N.B., where 

 shad are plentiful. Enlarging the mesh would let the small fish through, but it must 

 be general or it would not be satisfactory. My average has been 100 shad a season 

 for many years, hence I would not fish for shad at all if it were not for the salmon 

 wo take. 



W. A. Urquhart, fishery ofiicer, said that salmon go up FoUy river seven miles 

 to the falls, which are 15 feet high. Poaching is a serious matter. Four men in a 

 wagon went by the FoUy river to the bridge three miles from here. Two were in the 

 wagon, one on the bridge with a stick of dynamite and one below the bridge stoning 

 the pool below the falls. I talked to them and they got suspicious and aS they went. 

 There should be two oflicers, one in Folly mountain and one from here to the bridge; 

 other officers should be appointed. I have seized three or four spears and had one man 

 taken up and he was a friend, but he has been my enemy ever since. The decrease of 

 shad is due to the destruction of spawning fish. 



Alex. P. Fleming said he did not think that ever a salmon got up the falls (15 

 feet high) on Folly river. There are a number of pools and two falls on the river 

 but the spawning ground is below the falls. 'Forty-five years ago I saw two salmon 

 in the pool below the falls. As to shad I have fished them, and for seven years mv 

 catches were 200 to 500 on a tide. The chief cause of decrease is the destruction of 

 spawning shad on the United States coast and in the Shubenacadie and Stewiacke 

 rivers. Of course our shad may be different from the United States shad. I think 

 that a close season for two or three or four years during which period no shad should 

 be caught would be effective. It would be no serious loss because the catch is so small 

 the men would not feel it much. It is not too late to save the shad fishery. 



Captain W. M. Urquhaht said that when a boy he fished shad for two summers. 

 That was 30 years ago, in the early GO"s. Two hundred at a tide was the catch, but 



