62 SB AD n.<Hr.nr coMMfssiox 



Sixteenth Sitting. 



ViCTORLv Hai.l, Bass Ewer, X.S., Aug. 18, 1908. 



Aftcj the oustomary opening remarks by Professor Prkce and Commissioner 

 3I0RRIS0N., ilie following evidence was given. 



Mr. George Lewis, Bass Eiver, stated that his experience extended over 40 years. 

 He began when he was a mere boy and stopped 35 years ago. He fished the drift net and 

 the v%e!r or brush fence. Shad were fairly plentiful and catches of 1.000 were made 

 at times by our own boj-s; 300 to 500 was a fair catch, using 400 or 500 fathoms of 

 uet, 5i-iacli mesh. Holliday's men from Halifax used short nets, 200 fathoms, and 

 «mall boats and got 200 to 300 which was considered a good night's catch. We then 

 made smaller meshed nets, 4| and 4| inches. The shad we caught ran 104 to the 

 barrel with 5^-inch mesh, but 170 to the barrel with the smaller mesh. "We never 

 fished much below Moose Island. The largest catches were made between Economy 

 Point and Moose Point. I had au interest in weirs and we got herring, gaspereau, 

 a few stray cod, seldom any bass generally in May or early June. Drift nets wei'e 

 used in the latter part of June. Hardly ever .was a spawn shad taken. Usually a 

 spawn fish was a big fish, and when cleaned poorer than the others. We quit very 

 early iu August. We never saw any racers or come-down shad. Late in the fall 

 the shad would be thick and fat, say in September. We never took any St. John 

 shad. A few St. John men came here to fish after I had begun, but did not do so 

 well as the local men. Respecting small shad I have seen them about the middle of 

 August in big schools in a weir. They were 2 inches or even smaller. None have 

 been seen by me this long time. There are none to be seen. For 20 or SO years we 

 have heard of the killing of spa^^^l shad up rivers. I am afraid it is too late to bring 

 the shad back, because it will be hard to find the seed. Shad were too much destroyed 

 formerly; I remember one of my boats taking 1,600 in one night. Hatcheries would 

 be g'iod. Sawdust, obstructions in rivers, dams, and too many nets have ruined the 

 shad. A total prohibition of shad fishing would later benefit all. If the men could 

 be satisfied to let the shad have o. chance all wuuld benefit later. 



TH0ii.4s B. Fui.TOx, Bass River, said he had known the shad fisherj- for nearly 

 50 years. Shad were formerly pretty plentiful, for I have taken 1,000 in a drift net of 

 throe hours. I have fished a weir and there is a rise and fall. Four thousand or 

 5,000 taken in a season, but not 200 have been taken in our weir this year. Often 

 ■R-e noticed a big catch up the bay and a small catch below. The causes of the pre- 

 sent scarcity of shad are: (1) the killing of the spawning shad; (2) sawdust on the 

 spawning grounds ; (3) sawdust damaging the feeding gro;ind.=. The food of the 

 shad, a dark bug-spink on the sand which forms a little mound; it feeds also on dark 

 insects about the rocks; food seems scarcer, I don't see as much food as formerly; 

 (4) loss of fish dropping out of the nets owing to rough weather. I have seen the 

 water blue with small fry formerly, but now there appear to be very few of those 

 small fish. Dogfish are not more plentiful than when shad were abundant, nor have 

 the shores changed physicall.v, so the shad cannot have left on account of such causes. 

 The weir is expensive, and so much labour, in building and maintaining it that our 

 ■weir never pays. It has 1,200 or 1,500 stakes, and is provided with a wire gate to 

 let out fish when desired. We get vei-y few salmon, as they get over the top. I have 

 taken two barrels of salmon in a season, ranging from 5 to 10 lbs. T think we get 

 more large salmon. We get a 20 lbs. salmon rarely entangled in the drift net. Sal- 

 inoD used to go up Bass river, and all the river? along this shore, but sawdust anil 

 poachers have depleted them. 



