THE FISHERIES AND FISHING INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED 



STATES. 



FISHIN^a-GKOUNDS 



A.— THE SEA FISHING-GEOUNDS OF THE EASTERN COAST 

 OF NORTH AMERICA FROM GREENLAND TO MEXICO. 



By Captain Joseph W. Collins and Kichakd Eathbun. 

 1. THE FISHING-BANKS OF DAVIS STRAIT. 



The most distant fishing-banks resorted to by the American fishermen on the Atlantic coast 

 are those of Davis Strait, off the coast of Greenland, which abound in halibut and also furnish 

 some cod. They are not much visited by fishermen, on account of the short duration of the fishing 

 season, the possibility of being detained by ice in the passage out, the uncertainty of obtaining a 

 full fare, and the great distance of the grounds from the fishing ports. Notwithstanding all this 

 however, quite a number of successful trips by Gloucester halibut vessels are on record, and were 

 the localities better known and better mapped out, they might develop into very profitable 

 fishing grounds. During the summer of 1879, Mr. N. P. Scudder, assistant on the United States 

 Fish Commission, made a trip to this region on the Gloucester schooner " Bunker Hill," and from 

 his re])ort of the cruise we extract the following account of the fishing-banks and their chief 

 characteristics. 



From the want of proper surveys it is impossible to mark out, with any degree of accui-acy, 

 the exact position and entire extent of these fishing-banks. The Danish charts indicate a line 

 of soundings just off the coast of Greenland, extending from near Disco Bay in the north (about 

 latitude 08=' 15' north) to near Lichtenfels in the south (latitude 63° 20' north), and ranging in 

 depth from fourteen to seventy-five fathoms and more. Over very extended areas, however, the 

 depths are not greater than thirty fathoms. It is more than likely that these soundings continue 

 ftirther along the coast toward Cape Farewell, for the reason that icebergs become stranded there, 

 but there is no indication of them on the charts. The distance of the center of this line of soundings 

 from the Greenland coast is about twenty miles, and the fishing-grounds have been stated to lie 

 from twenty to forty miles from land. Immediately outside of the banks, and on the inner side 

 also, there is much deeper water, the slopes being often very abrupt. Only a small area of these 

 fishing-banks have been visited by American fishermen — that portion lying between Holsteiuborg 

 and Sukkertoppen, and off Cape Amalia. 



