290 LABRADOR 
Jersey and American firms who, years ago, conducted large 
operations on the coast, had to give them up, owing to the 
scarcity of fish; that well-off families have fallen into pov- 
erty and want, and that many have left thecoast; that float- 
ing craft have to keep going farther and farther afield; 
that large bays, which attracted settlers on account of the 
local abundance of cod, are now deserted; that some places 
along the Labrador fail every year nowadays; that, not- 
withstanding the large mesh now compelled by government, 
the fish taken are now of smaller average size than formerly ; 
that the catch is not proportionate to the increased outfit ; 
and that the bank fisheries have been depleted both abso- 
lutely and relatively. The pessimists argue further that 
the cod-fishery runs risk of approaching the failures recorded 
for the lobster, salmon, seal, and even the trout, all of which 
have been signally depleted by man; the whales and whalers 
are steadily diminishing. Walrus has been banished from 
the Labrador. All along the Labrador there are bullies 
and fishing-boats, once in regular use, now lying up and 
rotting on the shore. 
That the government once leaned to this view was shown 
by the establishment of a codfish hatchery in Newfound- 
land, not for biological experiment, but for hatching young 
fish for restocking the bays. Subsequently, under Sir 
William Whiteway, the hatchery was closed down. Some 
fishermen thought the plan a success; others thought it a 
failure. 
In judging the case, the obvious precaution must be taken 
that too much reliance be not placed on the testimony of 
a few individual captains; as the number of men and 
amount of capital engaged in the industry increase, the 
