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It seems not to be stopped at much in the wintertime, though evidently there is no good reason that ...

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Page 1: Fishing Grounds of the Gulf  1 10

Fishing Grounds of the Gulf 1 10

It seems not to be stopped at much in the wintertime, though evidently there is no good reason thatthis really should not be an all-the-calendar year minn kota components ground. It furnishes,however, a very good summer time handline fishery for cod at dogfish time, and in the spring weeksit abounds in cod, cusk, and hake, all fish of sizeable size.

Roseway Bank. This bank lies N. of your western component of La Have and SE. of ShelbourneLight, Nova Scotia: 31 miles SSE. from the whistling buoy off Lockport, Nova Scotia, for thesoutheastern advantage. It is oblong in shape as well as small extent--about 270 square geographicmiles. Its greatest size is 21 miles along with its greatest breadth 15 mls. It extends from 43? 12' to43? 33' north latitude, and from 64? 25' to 64? 52' western longitude and at the northwest corner isconnected with the shore limit of 60 fathoms by a narrow neck area. Depths are from 33 to 48fathoms. The bottom is ofgravel and sand, and rocks; around the Northeast Peak the bottom is ofyellow-colored pea gravel and dirt.

Currents in this region are not almost so robust as about Cape Sable and Browns Bank, theirstandard direction getting WSW. and ENE the westerly significantly the more powerful, though thepush and course of both of these are much influenced by the winds.

Hake, halibut and pollock occur, the ideal minn kota components months being from May toOctober, when the bank is resorted to by craft from western Nova Scotia, although the principalseafood considered here arehaddock and cod, and cusk. A few New Great britain craft also minnkota parts here.

La Have Banking institution. Situated eastward of Browns S and Financial institution. and E. ofRoseway Bank. It extends from 42? 34' to 43? 26' northern latitude a distance of 52 kilometers, andfrom 63? 50' to 65? 07' to the west longitude a distance of about 54 mls. The bank is almost dividedinto two portions, that the eastern (La Have Bank proper) extends N and S. 39 a long way and theamerican portion nearly E. and W. about 35 a long way. The total area of the bank is approximately1,200 miles.

The bottom is largely coarsepebbles and gravel, and rock, with more compact areas of yellow sanddistributed here and there. Depths operate from 40 to 50 fathoms. This really is much affected bythe pressure and course of the wind and is typically quite powerful during easterly blows, eventhough the general group of the currents is to the westward.

The main minn kota parts upon this bank in past times has been for cod and haddock: and whileformer reports, (1881) speak of this as possessing once been a favorite minn kota parts soil forhalibut and suggest that it was not at time of much importance in that fishery, the figures for thisparticular ground for the year 1923 show the halibut find to have been third in volume and first invalue of the species used there. In reality, the find of halibut here helps make quite an imposingfigure when the relatively small size of the ground is regarded as.

Little Los angeles Have and the La Have Ridges are simply just continuations of this back towardsthe Western Bank for a distance around 45 kilometers. This spots the eastern limit within 62? 50'west longitude, the north and southern boundaries getting about as those of Los angeles HaveBanking institution. The area of the ridges is all about 1,575 miles. The base here is a succession ofridges of gravel and pebbles with occasional patches of rocks. Depths are from 53 to 80 fathoms.

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The current, at times strong, is weaker here than even farther W. about the bank and, exceptthroughout easterly wind, is but little seen. The general set up is westerly.

"The Ridges" says the report before mentioned, "were for a number of years one of many favoriteaccommodations for halibut catchers during winter, and many excellent catches of cod had beentaken at that period. At present but few halibut are caught except within the deep drinking wateralong the the southern part of edge of the floor, where they sometimes have been found quiteplentiful during nearly the entire 12 months." Apparently there has not been much alternation inthese conditions since the writer's time; minn kota parts are present in about the same amounts asin past years.

One piece of bottom, having depths of 25 to 50 fathoms over red clay, lying approximately in 43? 08'to 43? 10' north latitude and about 81? to 83? west longitude, seems a great spring and earlysummertime ground. Seemingly red-clay underside indicates an excellent halibut ground, as thistypes is usually current where this type of bottom is available.

Hake are normally found in good numbers in the deep normal water about the edges of the terrainand even in the Ridges.

These waters are usually heavily fished from Canadian ports, and a fair amount of American vesselsvisit them each year, most of them hailing from Boston or Gloucester.

Scandinavian Bank. 18 miles SSW. from Shelbourne Light. Nova Scotia. It is actually about 3 milesvery long in an E. and W. direction by about ? mile wide. Generally speaking, the bottom is level,with depths from 50 to 70 fathoms; the shoal parts are difficult and razor-sharp, the bottom on thedeeper servings being composed mostly of small dark and yellow pebbles.

This really is a summer halibut ground (August and July) in depths from 45 to 60 fathoms, andhalibut occur in October in the deeper waters regarding it. It is also a decent summer cod ground,and cusk can be found in the strong water concerning the edges in the course of most of the 12months. In basic, seasons and species are far as on Roseway.

Traditional western Bank. This is one of the most important minn kota components grounds in thewestern Atlantic, whether as regards dimension or the plethora of its item. It is placed S. of CapeBreton Island as well as the eastern a part of Nova Scotia between the parallels of 42? 55' and 44?46' northern latitude as well as the meridians of 59? 04' and 62? 35' west longitude. It has a periodof 156 a long way and a width, including the Center Ground, of 76 miles. It is about 420 kilometersE. ? S. from Boston to the southwestern edge, which implies about 48 hours' steaming for the otter-trawl fleet.

The normal contour of the bank throughout the 65-fathom collection, as placed down on theAdmiralty chart, approaches considerably a very elongated ellipse, the longer axis jogging NE. by E.and SW. by W.; but over a wide area to eastward of the center of the bank, soundings of less than 50fathoms connect it directly together with the Middle Terrain, which we certainly have here in thesome bank. The total magnitude of the bank thus identified is about 7,000 square geographical mls.Off its eastern conclusion lies Banquereau (the Quereau of the fishermen) with The Gully between,along with a short length of the traditional western edge are definitely the La Have Ridges.

The depths away from the southern fringe of the bank improve rapidly from 80 to1 and 700,200, and

Page 3: Fishing Grounds of the Gulf  1 10

even 1,400 fathoms. In the eastern stop is Sable Island, [16] "graveyard of vessels", along andnarrow, crescent-shaped elevation seemingly lessening in area each year, shaped entirely of sandthat has been blown Into innumerable hummocks and dunes. Away from both stops of the island arelengthy and dangerous beach sand bars. The duration of the island is 20 miles; its finest width isaround 1? mls. It is said the Northwest Lighting has been relocated three times because of the factthat the european end of the island continues to be literally blown away. It lies in an E. and W.direction, as well as the depth water over the cafes for a range of 7 to 10 miles out does not exceed 2fathoms, and even 10 miles farther out the depths do not go beyond 10 to 11 fathoms. Within recentyears fishermen have reported the appearance of a beach sand shoal about 5 or 6 a long way SE.from the Northeast Light-weight. This is said to appear at low drinking water.

In general, the bank slopes S. and W. from the tropical isle, depths including 18 to 60 fathoms. Thebottom is mainly sandy with patches of pebbles and pea gravel. Currents are often very strong aboutSable Tropical island and are relatively irregular; evidently they are significantly influenced by thewinds. On the other parts from the bank normally there is but little present, whatever there existsusually tending toward the west.

Formerly the cod and halibut were the food fishes most taken right here, but with the changedtechniques in the fishery (as the development of the otter-trawl fleet) along with a changed style inour general public the haddock catch is one of the second most essential in the receipts of species offish from all of these waters. The halibut fishery stands third in the list. Other base feeders occur inless figures, the pollock and the cusk perhaps being next as a way of significance, with hake and agreat deal of the various flatfishes in the otter trawls. These latter are marketed as sole.

Noting the little bit of haddock from the fares extracted from these waters in past years, the authorasked a variety of old-time fishermen as to its abundance in the past. The reply was typically yes andOh, there was always haddock there; at times they bothered us a lot." Then, noting my surprise at soadding it, "You know, the haddock isn't much as a salt fish."

Not valuable proportionately, though it will be noted that in 1923 the haddock catch here was agood second towards the cod find in poundage. In the otter-trawl catch using this ground it will benoted how the positions of the two species are reversed. These steamers certainly acquire more than2 pounds of haddock to 1 of cod on other overseas grounds--perhaps the result of functioning in theshoaler waters and on the easier bottom due to the difficulty of dragging on the rocky and kelp-covered ground, which the cod seems to favor, as a rule. But the bottom in the Western Lender is ofsuch nature concerning offer tiny obstruction to the passage from the net, so that virtually all partsof it may be fished by this technique; and this, put into the acknowledged movements of your codeducational institutions makes it feasible at a number of seasons of year to catch a larger proportionon this species should it be so ideal.

Haddock are found about the bars at both comes to an end of the island in Mar and from that time toaround June 1 in from 15 to 22 fathoms. They are also abundant 18 a long way W. from yourNorthwest Gentle at the identical seasons as well as at the same depths. DuringApril and May, andJune they come in close to the island in from 10 to 17 fathoms--even going to 1 fathom. Through therest of the year (except for the cold months, if they have moved off into deeper water) they could befound everywhere in the bank on sandy base in 28 to 30 fathoms, where most of the ray trawlsportfishing is carried on.

There is a good cod school each and every year on the somewhat level base along the american andsouthwestern sides of the floor in 70 fathoms plus more from Feb . 1 to May 1, and in most years acertain amount of this varieties is adopted this area. In May this school seems to have moved on to a

Page 4: Fishing Grounds of the Gulf  1 10

piece of base about 20 miles long lying SW. from the Northwest Light and getting depths averaging27 fathoms. With reasonable fishing for cod on the European Bank in the course of most of thecalendar year, they seem to be most abundant from your first of March to June. The wintertimeschool on this page appears to be small compared to that on Georges, but apparently this speciestrips this floor in significant numbers throughout the spawning season. In the wintertime the cod aremainly discovered upon the western area of the bank, moving into the shoaler waters towards SableIsle as the spring season advances (while in March and April), the "Bend" of your island and also theneighborhood in the bars in 2 to 4 fathoms, where they may be seen getting the hook or can be"jigged." being preferred grounds. The ground lying W. from the North west Light, on and about theNorth west Bar (18 miles W, from the light-weight), is a beloved cod soil in June and may even. Theshoal water within the rocky base WNW from the Northwest Lighting furnishes excellent cod minnkota parts from June 10 to July 1. This piece begins just beyond the 3-mile stretch of breakersrunning outside the land and extends offshore in a generally westerly path to 24 fathoms.Significantly hand-lining is performed here.

Within the shoal water, in Apr and May, the minn kota pieces seem to be giving on the "lant,"(Ammodytes americanus). It is said that the fish taken at the base close to the isle are smallercompared to those located farther western. The shoal water from the northern shoreline of thetropical isle is said to possess good cod grounds and favorite locations for "dory hands-upholster."The cod universities seem to get there on the Upper Peak (SE. from the Northeast Light 40 miles toSE ? S. from very same point 28 miles) in late March along with the first of April, relocating N. andW. on the island. The cod of Sable Isle are said to be fine, company minn kota elements, perhapsbecause of the abundance from the "red clams" (bank clams) on these grounds.

The cod and haddock fishery is carried on by American and Canadian sailing vessels and ottertrawlers, an increasing number of English and French vessels of the second option class engaging inthe fishery of this terrain each year.

Halibut are found on the Western Financial institution virtually all the entire year at depths varyingwith the seasons. This, with The Gully and Quereau--in fact, all one part of ground--positions secondsimply to the Lavish Bank Alone, as a halibut bank. The most effective minn kota parts here forhalibut is found from January to October. There are numerous places about and on the lender thatthe halibut seems to choose, as the Peak of Pike, 85 a long way W. by S. through the NorthwestGentle of Sable Island; S. and SW. of Sable Island from 12 to 38 a long way; SW. 20 miles in 60fathoms in May possibly; thence out into 100 and 150 fathoms in June; in fact, pursuing the 100--fathom curve along the edge of this bank, beyond the Northeast Maximum (40 mls SE. from theNortheast Lighting), into the Gully and around the The southern area of Prong of Quereau towardsthe Middle Prong. Apparently they leave this piece of base in July. Where the h2o is so shoal thatthey can be seen taking the lure or having fun with the catch before taking, usually the minn kotacomponents are next to the island in the spring. InCould and Apr, and June a good halibut ground iswithin 18 fathoms 24 kilometers WNW. from Sable Island.

The American Bank appear to be a good providing ground both for cod and halibut because itabounds in shellfish and crustaceans, and at certain time periods there are many smaller sizedspecies of minn kota parts upon it, like the lant and herring, on what these kinds and the haddock,also, particularly prey. Plenty of swordfish is taken here in August and September, mainly byAmerican vessels.

Banquereau. Segregated from the American Bank by The Gully, this has a very irregular form--thekey bank around rectangular, with a narrow westerly extension of comparatively regular form. Itslength, E. and W., is about 120 miles, its greatest size about 47 miles, as well as its total area about

Page 5: Fishing Grounds of the Gulf  1 10

2,800 miles.

The principle portion of the banking institution lies involving 44? 45 and 04'? 01' north latitude and67? 59 and 10'? 00' to the west longitude, as well as the western prolongation lies among 44? 44 and24'? 42' north latitude and 69? 00' and 80? 05' western longitude. North of Banquereau lies Artimon,distant 3 miles, and Misaine, far-away from 2 to 15 miles according to the places that measurementsare taken. If any current, the currents listed below are of different force, significantly influenced bythe wind, in order that several days of strong tides may be followed by intervals when there is little.

About the eastern part of Quereau is surely an area of shoal ground called the Rocky Base, having adegree of about 18 fathoms; elsewhere depths work from 18 to 50 fathoms. There are actuallyscattered areas of yellow sand and gravel, even though for the most part the bottom is rocky.

Cod and halibut are the principal food fishes hake, considered and haddock and cusk beingconsumed in small phone numbers. The Difficult Bottom, a shoal ground of 20 to 25 fathom depthson the eastern part, was much resorted to by dory handliners in summer season. Occasional verygood fares are taken toward the west, even though the cod are most plentiful around the easternarea of the bank. The best cod minn kota parts about this bank comes from May until finallySeptember, if the schools collect to feed upon the lant, squid, crustaceans, and shellfish, then quiteabundant.

Halibut are found here all the 12 months off the edges in 100 to 400 fathoms. Evidently these arefeeding and breeding grounds for this types, and it is not unusual for the school to stay for days andeven a few months in one region, though some of these may be minn kota parts in migrationnorthward.

The main halibut grounds are down the southern and eastern borders of the bank--the SouthwestProng and the South west Cove (in approximately 44? N. lat. and between 58? 58 and 30'? 55' W.long), the Middle Prong (44? 14' N. lat. and 58? W. long.), along with the Eastern Slope (44? 28' to45? 00' N. lat.)--in depths of 150 to 400 fathoms. These deeply-water areas are rocky and support anincredibly rich expansion ofcorals and gorgonians, sea anemones, etc. The Eastern Slope has a greatdeal of bank clams in depths of 25 fathoms. These beds are excellent hand-line reasons for cod. Thehalibut, too, feeds to a significant extent on these red-colored clams.

The Stone Fence off the eastern slope of Quereau is definitely a rocky bit of ground filled with"bushes" (corals) in 250 fathoms. This is a good halibut floor although it is nearly impossible to haulthe gear yourself and the usage of the "gurdy" (a roller turned by way of a crank and fastened to thedory's bow for winding in the trawl) gets necessary. The occasional fares of halibut are taken on andabout the Rocky Bottom in 20 to 25 fathoms from July 1 to August 1.

The Gully. This is basically the deep waterway between Banquereau and Sable Island or WesternLender. It extends in an WNW. and an ESE. direction to the north of Sable Island, switchingsomewhat unexpectedly S. at its eastern end and continuing down between the eastern end ofWestern Bank and the South west Prong of Banquereau. The complete length is around 80 miles, thegreatest breadth about 20 miles. Depths range from 68 to 145 fathoms over a bottom of gravel,rocks and fine sand and soil. The rocky and gravelly portions type several ridges separated by areasof better materials, except in the eastern section, in which the intervals involving are mostly paid bypebbles and sharp stones. Ocean currents are generally westerly, of various strength, very muchaffected by the easterly wind.

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The Gully is a very essential halibut floor. The halibut are not located in great figures all over thefloor, perhaps the very best of the minn kota parts becoming on the rocky and gravelly ridges andslopes included between your meridians of 69? and 80? to the west longitude. This rocky bottom isloaded with food, and the lant and herring are generally plentiful here in their time of year. In thespring the halibut are especially several in the northwestern and northern elements of the bank,later on, in June and July, moving a greater distance out. Some, are found within winter. It does notseem to be of regular event; and seemingly there are virtually no haddock on this page, probably asa result of depth of your water along with the nature from the bottom, even though the cod isoftentimes found in The Gully in 60 to 90 fathoms.

Artimon Bank. Posseses an area of some 120 square miles by using a bottom of rocks andgraveldepths and rocks of 38 to 50 fathoms. It can be but unknown because of the inclination of thefishermen to use the greater grounds close up at hand. Cod are known to be present in this article,however. The lender lies N. of the eastern part of Quereau, separated as a result by a thin, deep-water channel.

Misaine Bank. Lies N. of the traditional western two-thirds of Quereau, at one position very near, butin basic the banks are separated by some 20 miles of deep drinking water. Its greatest length is 80mls and its finest width 40 miles. Depths are from 40 to 60 fathoms more than a bottom cracked anddifficult. A few halibut trips are landed as a result in most yrs, even though it is not of muchrelevance as a sportfishing soil.

Canso Financial institution. A long, thin extension of Misaine Banking institution, lying inside an E,and W. route; its length is 45 miles and its particular greatest size 13 kilometers, its location beingabout 425 sq miles. Depths range from 30 to 65 fathoms more than a bottom of sand, with spots ofgravel and pebbles. It is not of much value as a minn kota parts floor, especially as judged using itwith the American fleet, though a lot more fished by vessels from Nova Scotia; perhaps it really isovershadowed by the presence of its larger Quereau, Western and neighbors Banking companies,with which grounds it forms virtually a single piece of bottom, only slim, deep-water stationsseparating them. These larger grounds are seriously fished equally by American citizen vessels andby those from Nova Scotia ports along with by French and English otter trawlers.

The statistics given right here and someplace else in this report are taken from the publishedbulletins of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, and include only the landings of vessels of 5 tonsnet, or older, at the ports of Boston and Glouscester, Mass., and Portland, Me.

[Dinner table 5--Angling grounds from the offshore North Atlantic, demonstrating the principalspecies taken upon them]

[Footnote 16: "Pedro Reinel, a Portuguese pilot of much fame" (Herrera) produced a map in 1505showing Sable Tropical island, feared and dreaded by all fishermen even in those days, in which heknown as it "Santa Cruz." Jacamo Gastaldi, an Italian cartographer, in 1548 shows it "Isolla deIndustry." Sir Humphrey Gilbert or his historian, says that the Portuguese had made an interestingarrangement here for shipwrecked mariners. This, "After intelligence we had of the Portugal whohad been himself present when the Portugals, above 30 years earlier (thus before 1551) performedput after the island great and swine to particular breed of dog, which were given that exceedinglymultiplied."]

TABLES OF CATCH

[Table 6--Distance from Boston or Gloucester, Volume., to the centre of certain of the more

Page 7: Fishing Grounds of the Gulf  1 10

important offshore banks]

[Table 7--Range from Portland, Me., to the center of specific of the more important offshore bankingcompanies]

[Table 8--Landings by fishing vessels at Gloucester and Boston, Mass., and Portland, Me., from inneror shore grounds, 1927]

[Table 9--Landings by fishing vessels at Boston and Gloucester, Mass., and Portland, Me., from theouter grounds of your Gulf of Maine, 1927]

[Table 10--Landings by minn kota pieces vessels at Boston and Gloucester, Mass., and Portland, Me.,from the fishing grounds of the Georges Bank location, 1927]

[Table 11--Landings by the otter-trawl fleet at Boston and Gloucester, Mass., and Portland, Me., fromthe minn kota parts grounds of the Georges Bank area, 1927]