NORTH ATLANTIC FISHING GROUNDS 7 



depth of the water rapidly reaches 60 to 100 fathoms. 

 Cod are more plentiful in May and June when moving in 

 towards the shallow grounds of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, 

 Near this point mackerel are last seen in June on their 

 annual migration from the waters off Cape Hatteras to 

 their summer home in the Gulf. 



Fifty miles northwest of the Cape North Ground are 

 the Magdalen Islands, rocky, exposed and irregular in 

 shape, inhabited by French-speaking fisherfolk. During the 

 winter season the islands are isolated from the rest of the 

 world by the encompassing ice-floes, but they are frequented 

 in summer by fishermen from New England and the Mari- 

 time Provinces in search of herring, cod and mackerel. 

 Pleasant Bay, in the south part of the Islands, is widely 

 famous for the abundance of herring that frequent its 

 waters. 



The Bradelle Bank is a stony patch lying about fifty 

 miles west of the Magdalen Islands. It is thirty miles in 

 extent north and south, and twenty miles wide, with an 

 average depth of twenty-five fathoms. Orphan Bank, a 

 smaller fishing ground, lies north of Bradelle Bank and off 

 the mouth of the Bay of Chaleur. Closer inshore towards 

 the New Brunswick coast are Miscou Flat and Pigeon-hill 

 Ground. Codfishing is carried on at all these banks dur- 

 ing the summer season. 



Prince Edward Island, lying between the meridians of 

 62 and 64, has excellent fishing grounds off its north- 

 eastern coast, especially for mackerel. The principal har- 

 bors are Tignish on the north and Souris on the southeast 

 point of the island; these harbors, with Port Hood on 

 the west coast of Cape Breton Island, are generally the 

 headquarters of American vessels sojourning in the Gulf. 



