THE SOUTHERN COAST OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 15 



southern coast of Newfoundland from Cape Eace to Cape Eay. Fishing is mostly done from small, 

 open boats, but also, to some extent, by vessels which go as far out as five to ten miles from shore, 

 where the water is of a suitable depth. They seldom fish, however, in deeper water than from fifty 

 to seventy-five fathoms. The fishing-grounds are so continuous that the natives can generally 

 obtain fair fishing without going far from home. The fishing season for cod is from April to 

 October. When in pursuit of capelin and squid, the cod approach so near the shore that they 

 can often be taken in seines and in traps, which do not in many cases extend more than 

 fifty fathoms from shore. The latter mode of fishing has been introduced since 1878, and has 

 been more efficient than the former methods of using seines and lines. The boat fishermen 

 depend jirincipally on hand-lines and trawls, but in the spring, when bait cannot be obtained, 

 they often use a jigger, which is also employed on other parts of the coast. 



Off Pass Island, there is a small tract in about one hundred and sixty fathoms, not over five to 

 eight square miles in extent, where halibut were found in considerable abundance for two or three 

 years, from 1870 to 1873. During those years a considerable number of United States vessels 

 resorted to this region, but the grounds soon became exhausted, and little or no fishing has been 

 done since. More recently halibut have been taken oft' Burgeo Island. The best halibut fishing 

 near this coast has been obtained about thirty miles from the main-land, longitude 58° west and 

 latitude 47° 8' to 47° 10' north, over an area about ten or twelve miles square, in depths of one 

 hundred and forty to two hundred and fifty fathoms. This region is now much resorted to for a 

 short period in the spring and sometimes even in winter. Famous halibut grounds once existed 

 oft" the beach between the larger and smaller Miquelon Islands, in four to eight fathoms, and 

 also in the channel between Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The presence of the halibut there was 

 due to their following the capelin to the shore. The capelin usually remain about a month, and 

 the halibut seldom stay longer, if as long. Halibut are rarely taken now at Miquelon beach in 

 large numbers. Fortune Bay has been the great resort for vessels engaged in the frozen-herring 

 trade since 18G5, but this trade is not so extensive now with Newfoundland as it has been in former 

 years, having been largely transferred to New Brunswick. The many long and deep arms of the 

 sea which indent the southern coast of Newfoundland are frequented by immense schools of her- 

 ring during the winter and spring months. Cargoes can frequently be taken at numerous points 

 along this shore, but, as above stated. Fortune Bay constitutes the principal fishing-ground. This 

 bay is sixty-five miles long and thirty-five miles wide at the mouth, but it gradually narrows 

 toward the center, where it varies in width from ten to twenty miles. The southern coast, 

 although quite rugged and bold, is less so than the northern, and has several sloping shores with 

 sand beaches. The northern coast is cut into by numerous deep and narrow bays or fiords, 

 which are favorite spawning grounds of the heri'ing. Long Bay, the principal fishing point, is 

 usually covered with ice in the winter through much of its extent, but the lower portion remains 

 open and permits of the seining and netting of fish. Among other harbors formerly and now 

 resorted to are Saint -lacques. Bay the North, and Eencontre. The numerous deep coves and 

 harbors on the north side of Fortune Bay, as well as the sandy shores of the south side, afford 

 seining grounds for herring during the spring and early summer. Many herring from these places 

 are sold in the spring to the United States bankers and to the French fishing fleet at Saint Pierre. 

 The capelin are caught with seines on the beaches of Fortune and Placentia Bays, and taken in 

 small vessels to Saint Pierre by the Newfoundlanders, who sell them there fresh to the French. 

 They come in June and remain from four to six weeks. The fishing is done entirely by natives, as 

 in the case of herring, and the catch is sold to the same fishing fleets. Asa rule, the French salt 



