SEAL-ISLAND GROUND. 73 



The tides are quite as strong bere as on tbe eastern side of George's Bank, the ebb having 

 an average strength of one and one-third miles an hour, while the flood runs somewhat stronger. 

 The greatest strength of the flood-tide sets nearly northwest, while the ebb flows in nearly an 

 opposite direction. 



Cod, halibut, and haddock are the principal food-fish occurring on this bank, but pollock and 

 hake are also found in less numbers. Cod are quite plentiful in the winter, and some good fares 

 are obtained, although comparatively few vessels fish here at that season, most of them going to 

 George's. At other seasons, however, the cod fishery on Brown's Bank compares favorably with 

 that of any of the other banks in that vicinity. Quite a number of the so-called Georgesmen fish 

 here, and a few resort principally to this bank during the entire year. Halibut were formerly 

 found in abundance, but at present this fishery is limited to an occasional trip to the deej) water 

 off the southern or western edge. A small quantity of this fish is also caught by the hand-lino 

 fishermen. The haddock fishermen frequently visit this bank during the winter, and often make 

 good catches. 



SEAL-ISLAND GROUND. 



Off the western part of Nova Scotia there is an important fishing locality, to which no name 

 is given on the charts, but which is called by the fishermen Seal-Island Ground. It is a direct 

 continuation of the shore soundings, which slope gradually from the land toward the south and 

 west, and continue in a northerly direction beyond what might be properly regarded as the limit of 

 the ground. To the south it extends nearly to Brown's Bank, from which it is separated by a 

 narrow gully ; to the west it reaches thirty-eight miles beyond Seal Island, and to the northwest 

 about thirty-five miles from the same island. The southern limit of the ground is in 43° and the 

 northern in 43° 45' north latitude, while the western boundary may be placed at 66° 40' west 

 longitude. The entire gTOund covers an area, outside of the three-mile line, of twelve hundred 

 and fifty square miles. 



There is a small shoal called Pollock Eip, with a depth of seven fathoms, bearing southwest 

 from Seal Island, from which it is distant nine and one-half miles, but otherwise the ground 

 slopes quite gradually, the depths ranging from fifteen to seventy fathoms. 



The bottom is mainly composed of coarse gravel and pebbles, with occasional rocky spots of 

 greater or less extent. The tides sweep out from and in toward the Bay of Fundy with 

 considerable force, the course varying with the direction of the land, so that while they run 

 nearly north and south on the northern part of the ground, they swing round to the southward of 

 Seal Island and there run northwest and southeast. The flood is stronger than the ebb, and the 

 fishermen estimate that one flood tide will carry a vessel nearly as far in a northerly direction as 

 two ebb tides will carry it in the opposite way, although this is doubtless an exaggeration. 



The principal fish caught on this ground are cod, haddock, and pollock ; but halibut, cusk, 

 and hake are taken to a limited extent, and occasionally herring and mackerel are netted for bait. 



Cod are generally more abundant from spring until fall than during the winter, but haddock 

 and halibut occur throughout the year. Fishing usually begins in April or May, and continues 

 until October. Halibut were formerly very plentiful in this region, but are now comparatively 

 scarce. 



This ground may be considered as essentially a feeding-ground for cod, which appear to come 

 here after the spawning season is over, to fatten upon the crabs and moUusks living on the 

 bottom and the herring and other species of small fish that swim back and forth in the tide rips. 

 All parts of the ground are fished on at the same time. This was formerly a favorite fishing 



