LABKADOK AND GULF OP SAINT LAWEENOE COD FISHERIES. 139 



Large fish were taken in considerable numbers at least as late as 1879, on the fishing grounds 

 of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, especially in the vicinity of Miscou Flat, some 10 to 14 miles from 

 Point Miscou. A peculiarity of these great cod, many of which would weigh nearly 100 pounds, 

 was that they could be caught only in the night they were "night fish." A trawl set during 

 the day would catch only small fish, while, on the same ground, a considerable number of large 

 cod, and only a few small ones, would be caught on a trawl set between sunset and dark. 



The large cod appear, both in size and habits, to be a distinct school of fish from the smaller 

 kind. Among the latter it is rare to find an individual more than 35 inches long, so that there 

 seems to be no intermediate sizes between the day school of small cod and the night school of large 

 fish. Of the latter, one is rarely taken that would weigh less than 45 to 50 pounds. This is all the 

 more remarkable, since, on all the outer fishing banks, there appears to be a regular gradation 

 from the smallest to the largest cod. 



HOOKS AND LINES. The gear used by the Labrador fishermen in hand-lining from their small 

 boats was an ordinary boat-gear, with a single hook and a lead weighing about one pound and a 

 half. In former years a special form of hook, known as the "jigger," was used by the Province- 

 town fishermen, this being an implement made in the shape of a fish, with a cod-hook soldered to it. 

 This was used when bait could not be obtained, and to deceive and attract the cod by imitating 

 the movements of a small fish, it was drawn up and down in the water at a short distance from 

 the bottom. 



NETS. Vessels fishing on the Labrador coast were accustomed to carry seines for the capture 

 of capelin. Vessels fishing in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence carry gill-nets, 2 to 2 inch mesh, from 

 15 to 20 fathoms in length and 2 fathoms deep. When the vessel is on the fishing ground they 

 are set from her stern. Bait is sometimes sought at the Magdalens in the spring, and the nets 

 are then anchored near the shore. 



BAIT. On the coast of Labrador the bait chiefly relied upon is capelin, as will be shown in 

 the description of the methods of fishing. Herring and lant are also used when capelin are not to 

 be had. In the Gulf of Saint Lawrence herring is the principal bait ; mackerel also are often 

 used, and squid when they can be obtained. 



METHODS OF FISHING. The manner in which the codfishery is prosecuted on the coast of 

 Labrador is well described by Mr. Charles Hallock, who, in 1861, visited this region on a fishing 

 vessel. Mr. Hallock's notes are supplemented by extracts from the autobiography of Capt. N. E. 

 Atwood, who forty years before was engaged in this fishery as one of the crew of a Provincetown 

 fishing schooner. 



Mr. Hallock writes : " This fishery is perhaps equally divided between the Provinces and the 

 States, though the number of men and vessels employed by the former is much the largest in 

 proportion to the population. * * * Little idea has the world of the populous community to 

 be found on the Labrador coast from the 1st of June to the end of September. Every little harbor 

 as far up as latitude 56 is filled with vessels, and fleets are constantly moving from place to place, 

 following the vagaries of the fish. * * * Many parties have salting rooms and dressing stages 

 on shore, but the majority of vessels cure their fish on board. 



" When the fish bite sharp, all is activity and bustle throughout the fleet. Boats are constantly 

 leaving for the fishing grounds, or returning loaded to the 'gunnel,' and all day long is heard the 

 cheery song of the dressing gang on deck, and the splash of the offal as it falls from the ' splitting 

 table' over the side to the water below. At early evening, after the labors of the day, the seine 

 boats go in quest of capelan (bait), carefully searching the little coves and inlets and creeping along 

 the shores; three men pulling in the usual way, an oarsman in the stern standing up and pushing, 



