26 FISHING-GEOUNDS OF >'011TH AMERICA. 



6. THE COAST OF MAINE. 



General Account. — Witliiu tLc limits of the sixty-iathoni liuc, whicli lies at an average 

 distauce of twelve to filteeu miles from the coast, there occur a very large number of rocky or 

 gravelly patches, which are the ftivorite resorts for cod, haddock, aud pollock, while on the muddy 

 bottoms between hake are generally found in greater or less abundance during the summer. In 

 addition to these grounds, of which special descriptions are given on the following pages, there are 

 many other banks, mostly of small size, situated in the bays and among the numerous islands 

 dotting the coast line, on which the different species of the cod family can be taken. These 

 banks, with the intervening valleys, form a more or less continuous and rich fishing-ground, 

 bordering the entire coast of Maine. During a part of the summer, when the dogfish have driven 

 away nearly all of the fish from the outer grounds lying off the coast, good fishing can generally 

 be obtained near land. Herring and mackerel are also very abundant in their season along the 

 entire coast. The former species is caught in large numbers in weirs aud gill-nets, placed for their 

 capture around the outer islands and in the numerous bays and harbors which indent the coast. 

 From June to November immense quantities of mackerel visit the coast of Maine; they are often 

 so abundant as to enter the bays, large schools being met with some distance inside of the coast 

 line, as far inland, in fact, as the saltness of the water will permit. -The deeper water off this 

 coast is, however, better suited to their capture, as described elsewhere. 



Lobsters are more abundant on the coast of Maine than elsewhere w ithiu the territory of 

 the United States. In some localities they are captured throughout the year, aud doubtless the 

 season might be as continuous nearly everywhere were the demands sufficient to warrant their 

 being taken at all times. In the summer they enter all the bays and estuaries, and some generally 

 ascend as far as the water is sufficiently salt for them. 



The soft clam {Mya arenaria) also abounds on the shores of the Maine coast. It is extensively 

 used as food and as bait for cod and other fish. Large quantities are salted annually to sell as bait 

 to the bank fleet. 



On the following pages, brief descriptions are given of the principal inshore fishing-banks, 

 the majority of which lie within the sixty-fathom line. Some of those lying just without this 

 limit, in part or wholly, are, however, also included here, as belonging to the same series of 

 grounds, and as being visited by the same class of fishing boats. This list, although it cannot 

 be considered as complete, probably contains nearly all the fishing-grounds of any size that 

 can be distinctively mark( d off from the general fishing area of the coast. 



GROUNDS OFF MOOS-A-BEC LIGHT. 



Luke's Eock bears south by east from Moos-a-bec light ; distance, three miles. It is 

 nearly circular in outline, about one mile in diameter, with depths of twenty -five to thirty-five 

 fathoms, and a bottom of rocks, gravel, and mud. Hake, cod, and pollock, together with a few 

 haddock, are taken on this rock by the small-boat fishermen. 



Xewfound Ground. — This is a small rocky si)ot, not more than one-fourth of a mile in 

 diameter, having in the center an automatic buoy, placed there by the Government as a guide to 

 ^•essels bound to or from the Bay of Fundy. It bears south by west from Moos-a-bec light-house, 

 from which the buoy is distant about three miles. The depth is eighteen fathoms. This ground 

 is resorted to by a few small-boat fishermen, using hand-lines. 



Henry's Eock lies five miles southwest by south from Moos-a-bec liglit-honse. It is 

 one-fourth of a mile iu diameter, with a depth of thirty fathoms, the bottom being quite level. 

 It is resorted to by small boats, hand-lines only being used. 



