NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



CHAPTER I 



THE FISHING GROUNDS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC 



The consideration of the fishing grounds embraces the 

 geographical range of important food-fish, the kinds of 

 fish found in a particular locality, the nature of the 

 ocean bottom, whether muddy, sandy or rocky, and the 

 depth and temperature of the water. Fishing grounds 

 are inshore or offshore, according as they are adjacent to 

 the coast or lie at considerable distances from the main- 

 land. Inshore grounds are creeks, rivers, bays, harbors and 

 nearby shoals. Offshore grounds are banks that may be 

 elevated portions of coasts that have been submerged, like 

 the small banks of the Gulf of Maine; or a part of the 

 continental shelf, of which George's Bank off the east coast 

 of Massachusetts is an example; or submarine plateaus, as 

 the Grand Bank of Newfoundland. 



For purposes of this work the fishing grounds of the 

 North Atlantic may be divided into three parts: the 

 northernmost part, including Iceland, extends from Davis 

 Strait southward along the east coast of Labrador to Cape 

 Race in Newfoundland; the second part is more irregular 

 in form, and is included between Cape Race and Montauk 

 Point, Long Island; a third part occupies an unbroken 

 stretch from Long Island to Cape Florida. The grounds 

 extend over forty degrees of latitude from 65 to 25 

 north latitude. The distance from Holsteinborg in Green- 



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