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94 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
in the spring on the northern and western part, but in the spring of 
1877 the fishermen made trials farther out, in deeper water, and excel- 
lent fares were obtained as late as June and July. Since that time good 
fares have been taken during the winter season, and it appears that 
halibut come to this place especially to feed, as they generally move to 
other localities just previous to the spawning season. With a few ex- 
ceptions the Gloucester halibut vessels are the only ones fishing on 
this ground. 
BANKQUEREAU. 
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This may be considered among the most important of the fishing 
banks lying between the 40th and 48th parallels of latitude. It lies in 
an easterly and northerly direction from the Western Bank, being sepa- 
rated from the latter by the “Gully.” The former bank is long and com- 
paratively narrow, and lies in an east and west direction. The extreme 
length is 118 miles, from 57° 20’ to 60° 04’ W. longitude. The southern 
limit is 44° 05’ and the northern 45° 01’, a difference of 56 miles, but the 
widest place, the castern part, does not exceed 46 miles. 
There is a shoal ground called the ‘‘ Rocky Bottom,” on the eastern 
part of the bank, which has a depth of 16 fathoms, while elsewhere there 
is from 18 to 50 fathoms. The Kocky Bottom is much frequented by | 
the hand-line dory fishermen during the summer, and sometimes several 
hundred dories are fishing theze very close together. 
The bottom is generally rocky, but there are patches of sand and ; 
gravel on some parts of the bank. The current from the Gulf of Saint 
Lawrence and the polar current meet here, but, though this causes con- — 
siderable irregularity, the latter is usually the strongest, and the set is 
therefore chiefly in a westerly direction. The force is much influenced 
by the wind, so that there may be quite a strong tide for several days | 
together and then but little or none. 
But few kinds of fish, with the exception of cod and halibut, are taken 
on Bankquereau; hake, haddock, and cusk being comparatively rare. 
Halibut are found throughout the entire year in the deep water along — 
the edges of the bank, where, at a depth of from 100 to 400 fathoms, large 
numbers of them areoften taken. These are apparently both feeding and — 
breeding grounds for the halibut, and it is not unusual for a school of 
them to remain several weeks or even months in one locality, although it 
is probable that some of the schools that “ strike” on the eastern part of 
the bank in the spring are migrating farther north. The best season — 
for cod is from May to November, when the schools gather on the bank | 
to feed on the lant, squid, crustacea, and shell-fish that usually occur in 
great abundance. As a general thing cod are found the most plentiful 
on the eastern part of the bank, although good catches are frequently 
obtained farther west. French, British, Provincial, and American fish- — 
ing vessels resort to this bank for cod in summer, and the American 
(Gloucester) fresh halibut fleet visit it at all seasons. 

