heeri:ng fishery. 33 



50 pounds, and when thej are easily killed by a blow on the nose ; but 

 by the 1st of April they begin to take to the water and are not so 

 easily taken. Xo seals are allowed to be killed before the 14th of 

 March or after the 20th of April. A\nien the sealing vessels have 

 obtained full cargoes, they return to port, discharge, and start again 

 for a second and occasionallj^ even a third trip. 



The seals taken off the coasts of Newfoundland are the harp seal 

 and the hood seal, which come down on the Arctic floe at the begin- 

 ning of March, riding the floe for the purpose of whelping. 



Sealers reckon that six young seals or " cats " weigh from 2 to 

 3 quintals. An old seal weighs 2^ to 3 quintals, and an old square 

 flipper sometimes as much as 8 quintals. 



In 1907 the value of sealskins exported from Newfoundland 

 amounted to -$194,300, and that of seal oil to $447,967. In 1906, 22 

 steamers, built for encountering Arctic ice, manned by 3,684 men, 

 brought in 245,051 seals of a gross weight of 5,870 tons ; this was con- 

 sidered only an average fishery. A point of marked interest in the 

 season of 1906 was the success of a steel sealer, which was able to 

 pierce the ice more rapidly and easily than the wooden vessels hith- 

 erto employed, and in four days killed 30,193 seals. 



The wise rule of fixing the date of departure of the sealing vessels 

 seems to have had a good effect on the catch ; but as mother seals bear 

 only one whelp a year it is difficult to see how the enormous slaughter 

 can be continued without sensibly diminishing the number of seals; 

 however, there is very little sign of this at present. In 1906, 25 

 steam sealers took 341,836 seals, of the value of $607,544. 



Herring" fishery. — Herrings resort to the shallow reaches in the 

 great bays around the island, and are generally found Avithin 3 miles 

 of the shore. The principal herring fisheries are at Fortune, Placen- 

 tia, and St. George bays, bay of Islands and Labrador (see page 36), 

 the two latter being the most valuable. Fortune bay is a winter her- 

 ring fishery, commencing early in December; St. George bay is a 

 spring fishery. The value of herrings exported from Newfoundland 

 in 1907 amounted to $406,363. 



During the season of 1907-8, 50 United States vessels, 7 of which 

 made two trips, engaged in the herring fishery at the bay of Islands. 

 In addition to these, 5 Canadian vessels were chartered by American 

 fishermen. The catch of the American fleet, including that of the 

 Canadian chartered vessels, was 46,877 barrels of salted herring, 

 valued at $176,789, and 31,015 barrels of frozen herring, valued at 

 $217,000. 



Six British vessels, not chartered, landed at Boston and Gloucester 

 5,834 barrels of salted herring, valued at $21,878. and 1,875 barrels 

 of frozen herring, valued at $12,938. 

 76846—09 3 



