184 THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY QUESTION. 



FRENCH FISHING INDUSTRY. 

 The French fishing industry on the shores of Newfoundland 

 divides itself into three categories : — 



1. The fisheries on the shoals. 



2. The fisheries on the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. 



3. The fisheries on the shore line of Newfoundland. 



The fisheries upon the shoals, belong to the open sea, and there- 

 fore are open to all nations, and in this industry France is brought 

 vis-a-vis with England and Newfoundland from a commercial point 

 of view, as its chief customer of the bait, wherewith to prosecute 

 the cod fishery. 



The fisheries of the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon are prose- 

 cuted in the French waters, and therefore they are confined to the 

 French jurisdiction, and in no way concern, except as regards bait,, 

 either the Newfoundland or the English interests. 



The French fisheries upon the coast line of Newfoundland, on 

 what is called the littoral Anglais, reserved or guaranteed to France 

 by successive Treaties, previously referred to, present a character that 

 are totally distinct in their exercise from the fisheries on the shoals, 

 and on the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. 



These fisheries of France, over the whole ground referred to, 

 employed at one time, it is estimated, 9,000 sailors, and brought 

 upwards of twenty millions of francs to the French commerce, and 

 it is no wonder, therefore, that France considers the Newfoundland 

 fisheries as one of the most Valuable nurseries for her commerce, 

 and possibly an important rendezvous for her Navy, and it is for these 

 objects especially that the French nation has made great sacrifices to 

 protect them, and also has paid large subventions to extend and 

 develop them. 



Further, the French Government has for many years, in order to 

 encourage the fishing industry, granted premiums to the shipowners 

 engaged in the Newfoundland fishing trade; for instance, the 

 shipowner who dries the fish upon the strand of St. Pierre or 

 on the coast of Newfoundland, is held to have the right to the 

 premium of 50 francs per man ; if his vessel has a tonnage, say 

 of 200 tons, or beyond that, she would be manned by not less 

 than 50 men ; if 150 tonnage, say not less than 30 men; and if 100 

 tonnage, say not less than 20 men, so that whether 200 or 150 or 

 100 tonnage, the owner, on the basis of a premium of 50 francs per 

 man, secures a premium of 2,550, or 1,550, or 1,000 francs respec- 

 tively, as the case may be. 



