18 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



fish. The same smacks also visit the grounds off the New 

 Jersey coast, principally in search of cod in winter and blue- 

 fish in summer. The grounds are Eocky Spots, southeast of 

 Sandy Hook, Shark River Ground, Squan Ground, East 

 of Barnegat Light Ground, Egg Harbor Ground, Absecum 

 Ground and Five Fathom Bank, east of Cape May. 



From Cape Henlopen to Cape Charles there are few off- 

 shore grounds, but inshore seining for menhaden, blue- 

 fish and sea mullet is carried on. Fifteen miles southeast 

 of Cape Henlopen is Old Ground, one of the largest and 

 oldest-known grounds on this coast for cod in winter and 

 sea bass in summer. 



From Cape Charles to southern Florida there are long 

 stretches of sandy beaches. Scattered fishing grounds oc- 

 cur along almost the entire coast, but most of the fish are 

 taken on the sandy shores. An abundance of bluefish is 

 found from Albemarle Sound to Cape Hatteras, although 

 the fish range from Florida to Massachusetts. The fish- 

 ing grounds south of Long Island are of interest to New 

 England fishermen almost wholly in connection with the 

 southern spring mackerel catch; the fish are taken off- 

 shore from Cape Hatteras north to the Long Island grounds 

 in the months of April and May. 



The range of fish varies with the species. Chesapeake 

 Bay is the center of the oyster fishery, now one of the most 

 important branches of the fisheries of the country ; oysters 

 and squeteague are taken along the entire coast from Cape 

 Cod to the Gulf of Mexico. Clams are taken from Chesa- 

 peake Bay to Nova Scotia; lobsters from Delaware Bay to 

 Newfoundland ; alewives from Georgia to the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence; shad from Florida to Maine; mullet from 

 North Carolina to Mexico; herring from Martha's Vine- 

 yard to Newfoundland; mackerel from Cape Hatteras to 

 the Gulf of Saint Lawrence; cod and haddock from New 

 Jersey to Newfoundland. 



