94 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



iii the spring on the northern and western part, but in the spring of 

 1S77 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. 



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 eastern 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 IS to 50 fathoms. The Bocky Bottom is much frequented by 

 the hand-line dory fishermen during the summer, and sometimes several 

 hundred dories are fishing there 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 offish, 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 are often 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. 



