316 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



On October 28, the Augusta A. Johnson arrived in Gloucester from 

 Green Bank with a fare reported to be between 50,000 and 60,000 

 pounds of fresh halibut. 



In conversation with the captains of several halibut schooners I 

 learned that many attempts have been made during the summer and 

 fall to catch halibut along the southern edge of the Western Bank and 

 the southwest prong and eastern edge of Banquereau, but these have 

 rarely been successful. The captains of these schooners were induced 

 to make these trials because the greater portion of the fleet had resorted 

 to the vicinity of Green Bank, where the vessels lay close together, fish- 

 ing on a small area of sea-bottom. As a result of this crowding there 

 was much loss of gear, which rendered the trips far less profitable than 

 they otherwise would have been. With scarcely an exception, however, 

 so far as I have been able to learn, the vessels, after makiug the at- 

 tempts already alluded to, were obliged to go to Green Bank in order 

 to complete their fares. It -may be interesting to note that, whereas in 

 former years the halibut taken in the region under discussion (Green 

 Bank) were nearly always of large size, the " gray "predominating, this 

 year the reverse is the case, for the fish caught there have nearly all 

 been of medium size and of much finer quality, averaging from two- 

 thirds to seven-eights "white." Mention should be made here of the 

 capture of halibut along the southwest part of the Grand Bank, during 

 the first part of this year (1882). Several fine fares were obtained on 

 the western slope of that Bank in depths ranging from 150 to 300 fath- 

 oms between the extreme southern point of the Bank and 44° north lat- 

 itude. Much difficulty has, however, been experienced in fishing oft' the 

 southern peak, as well as on the eastern side of the Bank, from the 

 strong polar current, though this is not generally a source of trouble on 

 the western side of the Bank, north of lat. 43° 20'. It appears, how- 

 ever, that halibut were scarce along the southwest slope of the Bank 

 during the summer months, though occasional fares were possibly 

 taken in that locality since the spring. From information derived from 

 the most reliable sources, however, it appears that nearly all the ves- 

 sels engaged in halibut fishing have resorted to Green Bank since July. 

 It is undoubtedly true that the small number of vessels engaged in this 

 fishery has been favorable to their obtaining large fares throughout the 

 entire season. Had the fleet, as in 1878 and 1879, been composed of 

 forty or forty-five, instead of only fourteen or fifteen sail, there is no 

 doubt but that the school of halibut on Green Bank would have been 

 broken up after two or three months' fishing. Ami, if not, it is certain 

 that the accumulation of lost gear on the fishing gounds would have 

 rendered profitable fishing in that locality a practical impossibility.* 



* When a largo number of vessels are fishing on a small piece of ground the result 

 is that the trawls of one vessel are generally set over those of another, until, in some 

 cases, the gear of several schooners is piled, so to speak, in inextricable confusion on 

 the bottom. This method of sotting renders it difficult, if not impossible, for any 



