bultow

• Format: Manuscript
• Language: English
• Subjects: English language > Dialects > Newfoundland and Labrador; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/elrcdne/id/7257

bultow n on the Banks and coasts of Newfoundland. It was a maxim of the French Government that the North American fisheries were of more national value in regard to navigation and power than the gold mines of Mexico could have been if the latter were possessed by France. As the French have so largely monopolised the Bank fishery, their method of conducting it demands enquiry. The plan of bultow fishery, destructive as it is acknowledged to be, even while acted upon, by the French, is not allowed to be used on the French Shores or in the neighbourhood of St. Pierre's. It is contrary to the ancient mode of fishing, as prescribed by the treaty granting them the right to fish on this coast, and is opposed to the spirit of the Treaty of Utrecht, the basis of all the Treaties apper- taining to the subject of the Newfoundland fisheries; as the 13th article of that treaty states,-"That the method of carry- ing on the fishery, which has been at all times acknowledged, shall be the plan upon which the fishery shall be carried on there; it shall not be deviated from by either party." That the bultow system is injurious to our shore fishery, is shown by the good voyages obtained when the Frenchmen, from want of bait, or other causes, are late on the Banks, and vice versa. Besides, when we take into account that annually 360 French vessels are on the Banks, each with 8 to 10,000 fathoms of bultows, spreading over 500 miles of ground, baiting over one million of hooks, and more than 200 small craft on St. Pierre's Bank, it is but reasonable to conclude that a large quantity of fish is stayed on its progress towards us, and pre- vented from coming in with the shore. The bultow fishing is carried on in the following manner:- The vessel is provided with three or four large boats, of a size fit to carry out, at considerable distances, large supplies of rope and line, with moorings and anchors sufficient to enable her to ride at anchor on the open Bank in rough weather. The boats carry out from 5 to 8000 fathoms of rope, to ...