Though a fishery failure would once have seemed inconceivable, Baird wrote in his report, “an alarming decrease of the shore-fisheries has been thoroughly established by my own investigations, as well as by evidence of those whose testimony was taken.”
Obwohl der Untergang der Fischereien zur damaligen Zeit undenkbar schien, schrieb Baird in seinem Bericht: "Aus meinen eigenen Nachforschungen sowie weiterer Berichterstattungen ergibt sich, dass die Anzahl der Küstenfischereien drastisch zurückgegangen ist."