FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



425 



So far as we can learn few if any cod spawn on the sandy bottom along the 

 outer shores of Cape Cod, but great numbers of ripe fish congregate in Massachusetts 

 Bay on well-defined grounds 3 to 10 miles offshore, extending from abreast of 



Fig. 212. — Chief spawning grounds of cod in the western side of the Gulf of Maine 



Sandwich (some 12 nhles south of Plymouth) to Minots Light. A few breed on 

 various small rocky patches off Gloucester. Years ago many cod also spawned 

 over a small area off Boston Lighthouse and thence northward toward Bakers 



