62 FISmXG GKOUNDS OF XORTO AMERICA. 



great depeudeiicc can be placed on secnring- a profitable tri[), on account of the several Lindrances 

 alluded to. 



The best known lialibut grouuds of the riemish Cap are said to be located near the meridian 

 of 45° west longitude, between the parallels of 47° 30' and 47° 50' north, where the bottom 

 consists of rocks, pebbles, and coarse gravel. The only vessels that have visited the Flemish Cap 

 have been those engaged in the salt halibut and cod fisherj-. 



THE GRAND BANK. 



This immense fishing-ground, which lies southeasterly from Xewfoundlaud, is of about the 

 same size as that British province, and equals in extent all of the other offshore fishing-banks of 

 the eastern coast combined. Its area, within the sixty -fathom limit, is about thirty-seven thousand 

 square geographical miles. It extends over more than four degrees of latitude from 42° 57' to 47° 

 04' north, and over nearly six degrees of longitude, from 48° OC to 54° 11' west, and has an 

 irregularly triangular outline, one side facing north-northwest, another southwest, and the third 

 about east by south. The northwestern and eastern sides are each about two hundred and 

 sixty-four miles long in a straight line, and the southern side about two hundred and twenty-five 

 miles long. 



The most i-emarkable shoals tire the Virgin Eocks and Eastern Shoal Water, located near the 

 center of the northern 'part of the banks. The channel separating the bank from Cape Eace 

 has a width of about thirty-six miles. Considered both as to its area and the extent of its fisheries, 

 the Grand Bank is undoubtedly the most important fishing-ground of the world. 



In order to describe its somewhat varied characteristics in sufficient detail, we have, for the 

 sake of convenience, divided the area of the bank into several arbitrary sections suggested by 

 their importance as fishing grounds. 



South of 44° north latitude the depths range from twenty-five to fifty-three fathoms, and the 

 bottom consists almost entirely of fine sand, varying somewhat in color. Over the east and west 

 portions of this section there are, however, a few scattered patches of coarse sand and gravel with 

 an admixture of small pebbles, and occasionally of rocks of larger size. The eastern edge drops 

 oft' rapidly at a distance of a mile or more from the sixty-fathom limit, but halibut have been 

 found there abundantly in depths of one to three hundred fathoms. On the western side of the 

 slope the descent is apparently more gradual, especially north of the parallel of 44° north latitude, 

 where a depth of one hundred and fifty fathoms is found at a distance of tweutj'-five miles or 

 more from the edge of the bank. Over the greater part of this area there occur large numbers 

 of bank quahogs {Cyprina islandica), bank clams {Siliqua costata), periwinkles (Bitcciman), and 

 small Crustacea, and wherever the bottom is pebbly, sea anemones, sea pumpkins or holothuriaus, 

 and sea lemons {Boltenia) abound, and crabs are genei-ally plentiful. Owing to the strong currents 

 that sweep by the eastern edge, and the frequent occurrence there of large icebergs, fishing in 

 that locality is attended with many difficulties and some danger. 



Another section may be laid out between the i)arallels of 44° and 45° 20' north latitude, and 

 extending the entire width of the bank. The eastern part of this section, in the vicinity of and 

 to the eastward of the meridian of 50° west, is generally known as the "Eastern Shoal Water." 

 It has depths of twenty-two to thirty-five fathoms, and the bottom is mainly composed of fine 

 sand, with an admixture of gravel, pebbles and large stones over certain areas. The eastern 

 edge descends rapidly into comparatively deep water. The fauna of this section resembles 

 that of the southern section already described. Between 50° and 51° west longitude lies what 

 is l;iiown among fishermen as the "pumpkin bottom," from the immense quantities of a large 



