THE GULF OF i^AINT LAWEBNCE. 21 



their presence is not generally as readily detected. Another hinderance to seining in the Gulf is 

 the greater prevalence there of stormy weather, after tlie month of July, than on the coast of the 



United States. 



' Hbreing Gkounds.— The principal fishing-ground for herring in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence 

 is Pleasant Bay, situated at the southern end of the Magdalen Islands, and opening broadly toward 

 the east. The shores of the bay are bold and rocky in some places towards the north, but are low 

 and sandy elsewhere. Its depth varies from three to eight fathoms, the bottom being composed 

 of white sand. Tlie herring arrive about the last of April and continue in great numbers throughout 

 the spawning season, entirely disappearing about the first of August. 



Herring also resort to various portions of the coast of the island of Anticosti, situated in the 

 northern portion of the Gulf, about ninety miles from the Magdalens ; but the principal herring 

 grounds are about the North Cape, the eastern extremity of the island. Fishing is at its height 

 here during the month of June, and cod vessels failing to load at the Magdalens can reach the 

 island in time to secure a fare. Until the past few years vessels have rarely, if over, visited this 

 region, as there has been an abundance of fish in more easily accessible places. , 



Herring visit many localities on the coast of Newfoundland, and are taken to a greater or less 

 extent in all the bays and harbors. The -principal fishing-grounds are in Fortune Bay, on the 

 southern side, and in Bonne Bay and Bay of Islands, on the western side of the island. Bonne 

 Bay, which is situated about midway between the Straits of Belle Isle and Cape Eay, is a small, 

 deep-water bay, with two arms, of which the southern one is more frequented by herring, which 

 enter in large numbers. Bay of Islands, about twenty-five miles farther south, is of larger size 

 than the above, and constitutes a more important fishing-ground. Of its several deep-water arms, 

 extending from fifteen to twenty miles inland, the most southern one, locally known as the 

 " Sou'west arm," furnishes the principal fishing-ground. The fish are found in this region during 

 the greater part of the year. They visit it in the early spring to spawn, and remain through the 

 season to feed upon the small crustaceans, which are very abundant in these waters. These fish 

 are mostly captured by the natives, who sell them to the provincial and United States vessels. 



The herring when they arrive In the spring are quite poor, but fatten rapidly, and those 

 caught in the fall are considered equal, if not superior, to any others taken on the American coast. 



Vessels occasionally visit Bonne Bay and Bay of Islands in the spring, when they have failed 

 to secure a catch at the Magdalens. The principal season, however, is during the fall, the vessels 

 generally arriving in October and leaving before the last of December. They frequently leave 

 earlier than this to prevent being frozen in by the ice, but a number of vessels have been detained 

 by this cause nearly all winter. 



A school of herring enters Saint George's Bay, between Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, 

 in June, and remains there one or two weeks, during which time the fish are usually very 

 abundant. At this season, the locality is visited by the United States bank fishermen iu search of 

 bait. The principal points where herring are taken on the gulf side of Cape Breton Island and 

 Nova Scotia to sell as bait to the bank fishermen are Port Hood, the Judique shore, and Havre 

 Bouche or Kiiight Inlet, 



Tidal Cxjreents.— Prof. H. Y. Hind, in his account ' of " the relation of the movements of 

 mackerel in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to tidal currents," describes those currents as follows : 



" There is, perhaps, no part of the world where the tidal waves and resulting currents are 

 distributed in such a remarkable manner as in the Gulf and estuary of the Saint Lawrence. 



I The Effect of Fisliery Clauses of the Treaty of Washington, etc. Halifax, 1877. 



