24 



F I S H E R I L ;J 



British North American Fisheries.' — The principiil 

 fisheries coming under this head are for cod, herring, and 

 mackerel, including the long-famous cod fishery of New- 

 foundland. The fisheries of the Dominion of Canada are 

 chiefly carried on with o[)en boats, and cuusequenlly are to 

 a great extent, though subject to some variation, what may 

 bo called shore fisheries. The proportion, as given by 

 Professor Hind, of the shore fisheries to the deep-sea 

 fisheries, in which decked vessels are employed, is 4'4 to 1, 

 S.I that " by far the largest proportion of the fishing 

 industry of the Dominion is pursued in coastal waters, and 

 much of it rarely extends beyond the limit of three marine 

 miles from the coast line." Thefollowini,' table shows the 

 number of boats and vessel^i, with the aggregate number of 

 iiien employed in each, in 187G : — 



In the NewfouiuUand fisheries boats and vessels are also 

 used, but the dee|)-sea fishery is scarctly distinct from that 

 pursued in coastal waters, or within the three-mile limit 

 from the shore. The total nuni > > of boats employed at 

 Newfoundland in 1874 was 18,011, and the number of 

 persons engaged in catching and curing fish 45,854, while 

 the number of vessels was 1197, with an aggregate of 

 CI, 551 tons, and manned by 8394 fishermen sailors. 

 These vessels, however, include the large number used for 

 sealing. The number of " fishing rooms" or portions of 

 the shore set apart for the caring and storing of fish was 

 8902 in the same year. The numbers of fishing craft, 

 men, and fishing roonw in 1874 showed a considerable in- 

 crease over those for 18C9. Professor Hind, in speaking 

 of the large proportion of inshore fishing, says :— " The 

 changeable character of the weather on the British Ameri- 

 can coast, the sudil'ii and unexpected occurrence of fog.i, 

 the variations of currents produced by tides, the Uuig ex- 

 perience of the dingers attending fishing in open boats 

 some distance from the land, the pecuniary resources of 

 the fishermen, conjointly with the abundant fish resources 

 of the coastal waters, have combined to limit the industry 

 of the British Anijrican fishermen in a great measure to 

 the immediate vicinity of the shuru line, and within easy 

 reach of harbours. This is particularly the case with 

 Newfoundland." This insh;ire fishery, however, depends 

 for its success on the su|)|ily of bait fishes, especially iho 

 capulan and herring ; and, as in every kind of fishery, 

 there are years when migratory lisli, those which more or 

 less change their quarters at particular .sea.ions, vary in 

 abundance in certain localities, and sometimes foreake one 

 part of a coast and go to another, so the inj|)ortant fisheries 

 dependent on these movements are subject to fluctuations. 

 The CI I, in fact, there follow the bait-fishes precisely as, 

 on the English coast, the cod and coalfish become most 

 numerous near the land when the shoals of herrings come 

 clLsest in. On the coasts of British North America the 

 fishing interest is almo.st entirely concerned with species 

 whose natural habitat is in cold waters ; and as an 

 immense area of fishing water is there influenced by the 

 Labrador current, it is not surprising that cod, holibut, 

 herring, mackerel, and others should be found in abundance 

 on these coaatf The mackerel has also an extensive range 



' .\i\ ol.il) irnte and in many respei tn viilualile R^'jiort, by I'rofessor 

 Henry Yoiile Hind, M A., of the Fishery Cninniission, Halil.ix, pnli- 

 Ituheil 80 recently as 1877, ha« largely .vniiplled us with materials lor 

 our notice of the fisheries of British Nortli America. 



south along the coast of the United States; but the 

 Labrador current is little felt south of Ca|ie Cod, its 

 influence being tliere almost destroyed by the CJulf Stream. 

 The really cold-water species are therefore mainly found in 

 the Dominion seas ; and the fast that American fishermen 

 so systematically work there for them is the ground on 

 which the Dominion claim for compensation from the 

 United States Government was based. The sum recently 

 awarded to the colony by the arbitrators is much less, how- 

 ever, than the amount of the claim. 



The methods of fishing in use in the Dominion and 

 Newfoundland waters are of the same kind as in the 

 British Islands, witli thr; exception of beam-trawling, which 

 seems to be practically unknown en the American cimsts. 

 Herrings are taken by drift-nets, anchored nets, and seans; 

 mackerel by scans and hook and line; capclan by seans; 

 and cod and its allies by long lines or bulters — there, 

 strange to say, known as " trawls." 



Professor Hind states (at p. 58 of pt. 1 of his report) 

 that the aggregate number of barrels of herrings caught 

 in Dominion and Newfoundland waters in 1874 may bo 

 put down at — 



Dominion waters 534,307 barrels 



Kcwfoundlaud waters 271,382 „ 



Total 805,689 barrels 



This number does not include the quaivtities used for 

 manuve or bait ; and he adds : — " A million barrels of her- 

 ring each year, and gradually increasing, will fairly repre- 

 sent the quantity of this fish taken from British American 

 seas." In the same year 164,879 barrels of mackerel were 

 taken in Dominion waters, of which 80 per cent, were caught 

 on the coast of Nova Scotia. The mackerel fishery at 

 Newfoundland appears to Lave been very small for some 

 years ; and the fishermen do not now seem to be well pr> 

 vided with the means of catching them ; but there is 

 reason to believe that this fishery might be largely increased 

 in the Dominion waters if more attention were given to it 

 There is a very great demand for mackerel in the American 

 market. The Newfoundland and Dominion cod fisheries 

 are, as we have mentioned, almost entirely inshore fisheries, 

 and the abundance or scarcity of capelan or other fishes there 

 used as bait materially alects the success of the fishery, for 

 if the bait fishes do not come inshore, there is no attraction 

 for the cod. In the deep-sea fisiiery on the banks, the case 

 is diff'erent ; but they are almost neglected by the 

 Dominion and Newfoundland fishermen, for reasons pre- 

 viously stated. The produce of the inshore cod fisheries, 

 although fluctuating, shows no signs of being exhausted. 

 The following table, it is believed, represents with tolerable 

 accuracy the catch of cod and allied fishes on the Dominion 

 coasts in the years stated : — 



The export of dried cod in quintals from Newfoundland 

 in the years 1869-li'7() was : — 



The British American fishery for lobsters is of some 

 importance, and cod roes and livers are among the valuable 

 articles of export. , - . > , , ;..• ; 'T' ' 



