692 EEPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHEEIES. 

 2. — CHARACTER OF THE FISHING-GROUNDS. 



Cape Ann is a prominent headland, dividing the waters of Ipswich 

 Bay on the north from those of Massachusetts Bay on the south. Xext to 

 Maine, it has the most bokl and rocky shores on the coast of New England, 

 and its rugged granite walls rising to a considerable height above the 

 water, present an inhospitable appearance to the ai)proaching mariner. 

 This granite ridge, of which the Cape is a part, extends some distance 

 from the shore, forming an irregular ocean-bed ; and continuing south- 

 ward, is broken up into a large number of small rocky islands and 

 sunken ledges, separated by deeper channels. 



Among these islands and ledges the shore cod, and other species, find 

 a favorite feeding-ground, and the school-fish, though seldom venturing 

 among the innermost islands, come yearly in great numbers to the larger 

 outer ridges where they remain during several months for the purpose 

 of spawning. It is here that the shore-fishermen of Cape Ann find 

 their best fishing during the fall and early winter ; the fish being known 

 as the " pasture-school," from the grounds where they are most frequently 

 taken. 



Farther east, at a distance of 15 to 20 miles from the shore, and sep- 

 arated from the foregoing by a wide channel of clay and mud, is a ridge 

 of groimd about 20 miles long, known as Stellwagen or Middle Bank. 

 This bank lies at the entrance to Massachusetts Bay, between Cape 

 Ann and Cape Cod, with an average depth of 15 to 18 fathoms. The 

 fishermen often resort to this locality when the fish are approaching or 

 leaving the coast, and frequently find good fishing for several weeks. 



To the north of the cape is Ipswich Bay, with its low sandy beach 

 and level bottom sinking very gradually until a depth of 25 to 30 fath- 

 oms is reached at a distance of several miles from land. The floor of 

 this bay is a vast sandy waste, with only here and there a patch of clay 

 or rocks, the whole supporting but a small amount of animal life, and 

 this limited to a few species. It is essentially a spawning rather than 

 a feeding ground of the cod, and large schools visit the bay for this 

 purpose during the winter, remaining as late as June. The fishermen 

 are just beginning to learn the value of this ground, and in the spring 

 of 1879 over 11,000,000 pounds of round fish were taken, mostly by the 

 Cape Ann fleet. 



Farther to the eastward, and extending some distance in a northerly 

 direction, is Jefifry's Bank. This ground is frequently visited by the 

 shore-vessels during certain seasons of the year, and good fares are 

 often secured. It seems more of a feeding-ground for the fish than 

 Stellwagen Bank, and the fishing often lasts dimng a longer period. 



3. — DIFFERENT SCHOOLS. 



In examining the cod-fish landed from time to time, one cannot but 

 notice the great individual variation in the species. But in addition to 



