92 SHAD FISHERY COllMISSION 



After four years, I fished two myself, they became so scarce that fishing for them 

 was unprofitable. We used to get 12 or 13 sturgeon in a night, each five to seven feet 

 long. They were chiefly caught up Long Eeach, but indeed all up the river. I am 

 chiefly interested in gaspereaux and ofher work engages me after that is over. These 

 fish, gaspereau and shad, should be preserved. This year they have so diminished that 

 it will not pay to fish, and the property we have will be valueless. The cause is the 

 Pake fishing on the spawning grounds. Of course, it is hard to say to my neighbour 

 uy the lakes, ' You shan't fish,' but he farms. I have no farm, and my livelihood is 

 at stake- He fishes for the ready cash. We found when we went to McCormick's 

 Cove, on the Ivennebecasis to get gaspereau, that it is sheltered from the north wind; 

 there is a high bluff and still water, and it gets the southerly sun. If the winter is 

 long and the weather is fine the fish come in there, and if a cold spell follows they 

 collect in deep water. After Christmas they fish for the gaspereau through the ice. 

 As we can get nothing here we go up there and set our nets about April 1 to 10, or 

 even as early as the middle of March, and finish about April 25. The river raises 

 then and we come down to the harbour. The day the ice clears out of St. John har- 

 bour out the fish go up there. Such fishing up the river should be stopped till April 

 10 and allow it till July 1. Those fish got early under the ice, having come in from 

 the sea, when the ice is forming too, are the mother fish or parents, and they are 

 becoming fewer every year up there. In spring the LorneviUe men get the gaspe- 

 reaux from iilarch 1 to 10, and on April 1. We get them in the harbaur as a very 

 rare case in February. It would be best to make any restriction general. Herring 

 will replace the gaspereaux while the restriction is in force- Something is injuring 

 the fish, as they are getting scarcer. The fishennen are unanimous that it is the fish- 

 ing on the spawning grounds that is the cause. A shad hatchery would be a good 

 thing, as the salmon hatchery has improved the salmon supply. The shad would 

 benefit by hatching. 



James Pateesox, Fish Mebchaxt, St. Johx, I have handled the catches of the 

 fishermen for 35 years, both fresh and salt fish. The supply of the shad is a thing of 

 the past comparatively. Formerly one day's catch equalled what I get in a whole sea- 

 son or even two seasons now. I got 4,000 shad in one day formerly, but did not get 

 2,000 shad the whole of this year. They were scarcer this and last year. Last year 

 was a fair gaspereau year, but this year was much jworer. The first fish in from the 

 salt water are hard and in best condition, they are called ' ice ' fish and we pay 5 cents 

 each to the fishermen, they are the mother or spawn gaspereau and are a luxury. The 

 real demand only begins when they are $1 a hundred. No gaspereau are got by our 

 men before April 1. The best or early shad sell for 3 cents or 4 cents each, the fall 

 fat shad are salted at $10 or $11 per half a barrel now whereas ten years ago shad were 

 $5 per half-barrel. We send a good many shad to Boston and half-barrels here and 

 there through the province. Three or four barrels go to Moncton, Amherst, Sackville, 

 Fredericton and Montreal. The buck-fish are sold in St. John, hut the roe or female 

 fish, two-thirds of the catch, are sold in U.S.A. Because of larare size thev sell 

 there well and they give as much for the roe as for the fish itself, viz.. 87 cents whole- 

 sale. The proposed total closure is too severe and extreme. The fishermen see the 

 necessity of giving a little now. The spawn fish must be protected and capture pro- 

 hibited. I would not handle or buy spawning shad as they are not fit to eat. It is 

 not detrimental to take the fall shad, they don't come where they can be slaughtered, 

 and they are very shy in tidal water. They are in good condition. The ' come-backs ' 

 would be protected by the same season as urged. "Even ' come-backs ' are scarcer. There 

 are very few small shad. Formerly no one would take them because good shad were 

 plentiful. Shad swim near the top of the water and men when drifting suddenly see 

 them go down as soon as a gun is fired. Thunder means a poor day's fishing. Xoises 

 disttirb them, and they go like a flock of sheep no one leading. The young go astray. 

 The dredge has dumped mud outside the harbour and the fish are kept away. At 



