4()0 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



were engaged in the Labrador cod fisheries, catching their bait, which consisted of capelin, herring, 

 and sand-lant, in the vicinity, by means of nets which they carried with them for that purpose. In 

 this way they came to know of the abundance of herring, and found that they were present during 

 the greater part of the summer, at which time they were very fat. There being a good demand for 

 them in the home markets, whenever the fishermen failed to secure a full fare of cod they usually 

 took a few barrels of them on board to fill out their trips. Mr. Lorenzo Sabine, writing in 1853, 

 describes the herring fishery of Labrador as of little importance, being at that time confined to the 

 capture of small quantities by vessels engaged in the cod fishery, showing that there were no ves- 

 sels engaged exclusively in the Labrador herring fisheries. From that date to the present time 

 most of the herring brought from that region have been by those employed in the cod fisheries, 

 though a few vessels have engaged exclusively in the capture of this species from time to time. 



According to the Cape Ann Advertiser, the American fleet did not engage in the Newfound- 

 land herring fisheries until 1837, when Capt. James Pattillo, of the schooner Tiger, left Gloucester 

 about November 28, returning home in the following May with a cargo of 130 barrels of pickled 

 herring, which were sold " at $7.50 per barrel, being the first Newfoundland herring imported into 

 the United States." The schooner Amazon, of Gloucester, Mass., engaged in the fishery about the 

 same time. 



For some years from this time almost no vessels went to Newfoundland for this purpose, and 

 it was only during seasons of scarcity at the Magdalen Islands, or at times when the demand was 

 particularly good, that vessels resorted to the region in any numbers or with any regularity. Even 

 now the business, as far as American vessels are concerned, is of little importance, and the bulk 

 of the fish received are taken by the natives and shipped to the United States for a market. 



It is said by fishermen familiar with the fisheries of Anticosti Island that the American her- 

 ring fisheries of that region resulted from the failure of the fisheries of the Magdalen Islands. 

 Some of the fishermen failing to secure their cargoes in the above locality, knowing of the abun- 

 dance of herring at Anticosti, set sail for that island, and succeeded in loading up with fish of 

 excellent quality. Prior to 1870 no vessels visited the region, and it is only recently that the 

 fishery has been at all important, and even now the fleet is quite small. 



2. THE FISHING GROUNDS. 



THE MAGDALEN ISLANDS. The Magdalen Islands are situated about midway of the Gulf of 

 Saint Lawrence, in latitude 47 30', longitude 61 45'. The group is composed of eight small 

 islands, separated from each other by shoal channels varying from a few rods to half a mile in 

 width. Their greatest length is 36 miles in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, while 

 their greatest breadth is but 5 or 6 miles. The shores are quite irregular, some portions being 

 very bold and rocky, while others are formed by long stretches of sand. Amherst Island, the 

 southernmost of the group, curves to the eastward, inclosing Pleasant Bay, the principal fishing 

 ground for herring. The shores of the bay in its northern portion are bold and rocky, but at other 

 points they are low and sandy. The bay varies in depth from 3 to 8 fathoms, the bottom being 

 composed of white sand. Coffin's Island, the largest of the group, is 25 miles long, but very narrow. 

 The other islands are named Grindstone, Allright, Grosse, Bryon, and Entry Islands. The prin- 

 cipal fisheries are for cod, herring, mackerel, lobsters, and seals. The spring herring fishery is 

 sometimes a failure because of the ice blockade, as in the season of 1882, when Pleasant Bay was 

 full of ice during the entire month of May. The average annual catch of herring at these islands 

 from 1861 to 1876, according to Mr. EL T. Hind, was about 29,000 barrels. 



