8 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF TEE FISHERIES. 



give to Maine a peculiarly ragged and uneven coast with hundreds of excellent harbors, in many of 

 which the largest vessels of the world can find safe anchorage. Beyond the headlands are scat- 

 tered innumerable rocky islands and sunken ledges having the same general trend as the penin- 

 sulas of the mainland. In addition to these we find large rocks and bowlders scattered over the 

 surface of the land and the ocean bottom, where they have been left by the receding glaciers. 

 Enormous quantities of these fragments are frequently piled together, many of the well-known 

 fishing banks, and even the famous George's Shoals being, according to Prof. N. S. Shaler, made 

 up of glacial deposits. 



These sunken ledges and rocks are covered with marine animals, which constitute the favorite 

 food of many of our most important food-fishes, and the locality is a favorite resort of the cod, 

 haddock, hake, and other species known as "bottom feeders." 



The distance along the ocean shore of the State from Quoddy Head to the mouth of the Piscat 

 .aqua River is only 250 miles in a straight line, but, owing to the peculiar features already men- 

 tioned, Maine has 2,500 miles of sea-coast exclusive of the outlying islands. The rocky character 

 of the country forbids extensive agricultural interests, and the majority of those living along the 

 coast are necessarily dependent upon the various industries connected with the sea, such as ship- 

 building, the vessel-carrying trade, and the fisheries. 



ORIGIN AND GEOWTH OF THE FISHERIES. With so extensive a coast-line and such excellent 

 harbors for vessels and boats in the near vicinity of the more important fishing grounds, Maine 

 enjoys many advantages, not possessed by other States, for the prosecution of the fisheries. In fact 

 these advantages led to the settlement of the country, and for two and a half centuries continuously 

 the fisheries have been prosecuted by a large percentage of the people. For many years foreign 

 ships made annual visits to the coast to secure cargoes of cod, many of them bringing small colonies 

 which were left at some convenient harbor to continue the fishing during the absence of the vessel. 

 These began to build for themselves comfortable dwellings and to clear a limited amount of land 

 on which to raise products for their own tables. In this way were founded a number of important 

 settlements, which, in a few years, became quite independent, of the Europeans. Their resources 

 being limited they found that the construction of large vessels was impracticable, and they there- 

 fore contented themselves with building small craft, ranging between 15 and 40 tons, in which 

 they visited the nearer fishing grounds, some of them venturing as far as Cashes' and Jeffries' 

 banks, and the Seal Island ground. 



This condition of affairs practically continued until the beginning of the present century, when 

 in some localities larger craft were built for engaging in the offshore fisheries, and by 1825 the 

 Maine fishermen, in common with those of Massachusetts, frequented Grand aud Western banks, 

 the Magdalen islands, and Labrador. Between 1830 and 1870 the fisheries were peculiarly 

 important, nearly every coast town having its fleet of vessels in addition to a considerable number 

 of small boats. Occasional seasons during these years resulted disastrously, bat the period was on 

 the whole a prosperous one, and in many localities tbe small vessels were replaced by larger aud 

 better ones. From 1870 to 1879 the fisheries were less remunerative, and, owing to the unsatisfac- 

 tory results, many of the vessels were fitted for the coasting trade, and others were allowed to 

 remain idle, so that the fishing fleet was reduced to less than three-fourths of its former size. The 

 crews soon turned their attention to other pursuits, or provided themselves with boats for prosecu- 

 tion of the shore fisheries. This decrease in the vessel fisheries was most noticeable in" the smaller 

 towns. Another season of prosperity has just begun, but, though signs of renewed activity are 

 everywhere manifest, no considerable increase in the size of the fleet has yet occurred. 



THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEA FISHERIES. During the season of 1880, 11,071 per- 



