64 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



which reached Gloucester on June 25, 1882. She had on board above 80,000 pounds, four-fifths 

 of which were "white." The following detailed account of the amount and value of her fare 

 appeared in the Cape Ann Advertiser of June 30, 1882: 



"Schooner Isaac A. Chapman, Capt. Augustus G. Hall, arrived from a Grand Bank trip on 

 Sunday, bringing in 81,000 pounds of halibut and 5,000 pounds of codfish, stocking $4,303.66, the 

 crew sharing $145.30. She was absent nineteen days, of which time two days were spent in Nova 

 Scotia ports waiting for bait." 



Captain Hall told me that these fish were caught at a depth of 112 fathoms in latitude 45 04' 

 N., longitude 54 59' W. He fished for eight days altogether, during the first two of which he 

 was in shoaler water and caught only 4,500 pounds of halibut, so that 76,000 pounds were taken in 

 six days. 



September 11 the schooner Gertie E. Foster arrived home from Green Bank, bringing in a fare 

 of 78,625 pounds of halibut. Captain Olsen, who commanded her, told me that he had made sev- 

 eral unsuccessful attempts to catch halibut on the Western Bank and Banquereau during that 

 summer. 



On the 4th of October the schooner Willie M. Stevens arrived with about 80,000 pounds of 

 halibut caught near Green Bank at a depth of 250 fathoms. The vessel, however, lay anchored 

 in 220 fathoms, her position, according to Captain Mclnnis, being latitude 44 58' N., longitude 

 54 33' W. 



A few days later the schooner Grace L. Fears arrived with a " big trip" caught near the same 

 locality, the following notice of which was published in the Cape Ann Advertiser of October 13, 

 1882 : " Schooner Grace L. Fears arrived from a Bank trip on Monday, October 9, with 70,220 pounds 

 of fresh halibut, which were sold to the Atlantic Halibut Company for $3,606.61, her crew sharing 

 $119.39." 



On October 28 the Augusta H. Johnson arrived in Gloucester from Green Bank with a fare 

 reported to be between 50,000 and 60,000 pounds of fresh halibut. 



In conversation with the captains of several halibut schooners, I learned that many attempts 

 were made during that summer and fall to catch halibut along the southern edge of the West- 

 ern Bank and the Southwest Prong and eastern edge of Banquereau, but these were rarely 

 successful. The captains of these schooners were induced to make these trials because the greater 

 portion of the fleet had resorted to the vicinity of Green Bank, where the vessels lay close together, 

 fishing on a small area of sea-bottom. As a result of this crowding, there was much loss of gear, 

 which rendered the trips far less profitable than they otherwise would have been. With scarcely 

 an exception, however, so far as I have been able to learn, the vessels, after making the attempts 

 already alluded to, were obliged to go to Green Bank in order to complete their fares. It may be 

 interesting to note that, whereas in former years the halibut taken in the region under discussion 

 were nearly always of large size, the "gray" predominating, this year the reverse is the case, for 

 the fish caught there have nearly all been of medium size and of much finer quality, averaging 

 from two thirds to seven-eighths " white." 



Mention should be made here of the capture of halibut along the southwest part of the Grand 

 Bank during the first part of 1882. Several fine fares were obtained on the western slope of that 

 Bank, in depths ranging from 150 to 30'J fathoms, between the extreme southern point of the Bank 

 and 44 north latitude. Much difficulty was experienced in fishing off the southern peak, as well 

 as on the eastern side of the Bank, from the strong polar current, though this is not generally a 

 source of trouble on the western side of the Bank north of latitude 43 20'. It appears, however, 

 that halibut were scarce along the southwest slope of the Bank during the summer months, though 



