6 FISUIKG-GROUNDS OF NOKTH AMERICA. 



That halibut arc to be fouud throughout their entire extent is more than probabh', for the 

 species is identical with that taken on the Grand Banks, and we should naturally infer that these 

 fish would be found in all favorable situations within the limits uf their distribution. It is also 

 reported that Capt. Easmus Madison, who has made several trips to Greenland, set his trawls for 

 halibut farther to the south (probably off Godthaab) and found them verj' abundant, but was 

 unable to secure manj' on account of the numerous ground sharks, which destroyed his trawls. 



The depth of water on the banks ranges from twenty to fifty fathoms, and this makes fishing 

 easier than on the Grand Banks, where halibut can be fouud abundantly only along the outer 

 slopes in much deeper water. The inner edges of the banks slope abruptly, so as to form between 

 the banks and the mainland a long and narrow submarine valley, whose depth has not been de- 

 termined. The surface is of a varied character, though generally rocky, with sandy and muddy 

 spots scattered here and there. 



The fauna of the banks, as determined at the locality to which the Gloucester fishermen 

 resort, by specimens brought up on their hooks, varies considerably in different localities, and 

 often abruptly. Halibut would take the hook readily in certain places, and very seldom in others 

 close at hand. The former areas wei'e generally fouud to be covered with immense quantities 

 of an Ascidian, called sea lemon, and the latter with miniature forests of tree corals (Gorgonia). 

 When the fishermen struck the latter kind of bottom they were generally certain not to obtain 

 many fish. While this coincidence may hold good for this one region, it cannot be considered of 

 any importance alone, and the differences probably depend on some other unexplained causes. 

 On the more southern fishing-banks, the presence of Gorgonian corals in no way interferes with the 

 abundance of fish. An examination of the stomachs of the halibut captured in some jdaces 

 disclosed mostly crustaceans and in others mostly small fish. Halibut were the only edible fish 

 caught in sufiicient numbers to prepare for market. Some cod were taken, but not enough to 

 pay for salting, and they were eaten on board. 



According to Dr. Henry Eink,^ cod do not spawn ou the coast of Greenland. At any rate 

 spawners are very rarely taken, and during the winter cod are wholly absent from the coast. 

 " Sometimes in siiring a great many quite young ones arrive at the inlets between 60° and 61° north 

 latitude, which would seem to suggest that their breeding places were not far oflF, but they generally 

 make their appearance after June 20 on the fishing-grounds, which are situated between 64° and 

 08° north latitude, at a distance of sixteen miles from the shore, and in July and August resort to 

 the inlets up to about 70° north latitude. With regard to numbers, the occurrence of codfish on 

 Greenland shores is peculiarly variable. Some years, or certain periods of few years, may jjrove 

 extremely favorable as regards the catch ; whereas others turn out a total failure. The number 

 annually caught by the natives may be estimated at somewhat about two hundred thousand fish 

 on an average." According to the same author, " the larger halibut {Hippoglossus vulr/oris) occurs 

 on the banks, as well as in dift'erent places outside the islands, up to 70° north latitude, in depths 

 of from thirty to fifty fathoms. Of late the capture of this fish has become an object of com- 

 mercial speculation, and foreign shii)s, chiefly American, have been engaged in it, apparently with 

 bettvu- success than that of the codtishing. A halibut of this species weighs from twenty to one 

 hundred pounds, and its flesh is fat and much valued. Superior in taste as well as fatness is the 

 smaller halibut or 'Kaleralik' {11. pinguis"), which is angled for in the ice fiords at depths of about 

 two hundred fathoms." The other edible fish mentioned by Dr. Eink as inhabiting these fishing- 

 banks are as follows: The lumpQsh {Cycloptcrus huiqyus), perhaps the fattest of the Greenland 

 species, which goes inshore in Ajjril and May for the purpose of spawning, and forms at this season, 



' Danish Greenland, its people and its products. Eusli<^li version. London, 1877. 

 ' Platusomatichthys hippoijlossoitles. 



