XVI EXPLANATION OF GHAET 



XXXVIII, XXXIX. Good cod fishing with capelin bait, June, 1879. 



XL. Good cod fishing with squid bait in August and September, 1879. The inclosed area north of this ground 

 furnished an abundance of cod in July, 1878, when squid bait was used. 



Barren ground. — Good fares of cod have been occasionally reported from this area, but we have not been able to 

 obtain any reliable information respecting them. 



Chart No. 4. — The Fishing Banks off the Coast of Nova Scotia. 



Seal Island Ground.—Thia ground is now chiefly valued for the cod fishery which it affords from the first of May 

 to October of each year. It is mostly resorted to by a large fleet of vessels hailing from ports in the vicinity of Cape 

 Sable, Nova Scotia, and commonly called the " Cape Fishermen." These vessels spend most of the season fishing on 

 this ground. A few United States vessels, fishing with hand- lines, frequently resort to it, and it was formerly a 

 favorite locality for halibut, but is not at present. 



I. Halibut were found in abundance at this place for a few days in June, 1878. 



II. In this position, off the northwestern part of George's Bank, in depths of 110 to 160 fathoms, many good fares 

 of halibut were obtained by hand-line fishermen in 1876 and 1877. 



III. The schooner Alice G. Wonson made good fares of halibut in this vicinity, in depths of 160 to 200 fathoms, 

 during several successive years preceding 1880. The prevalence of strong tides and the frequent parting and loss of 

 trawl-lines by their becoming entangled in the large tree corals, Paragorgia arlorea and Primnoa reseda, which are 

 numerous on the bottom, have deterred others from fishing here, and no satisfactory results have been obtained by 

 other vessels. 



IV. In the fall of 1877, halibut were abundant along the region indicated by this dotted line, to the westward of 

 Le Have Bank, but since then they have been scarce. The crosses at the eastern end of the line indicate positions 

 where large fares of halibut were obtained from 1877 to 1879. At the easternmost position, the schooner Julia Wood 

 «aught 80,000 pounds of halibut in December, 1877. The depths fished in vary from 100 to 400 fathoms. 



Sable Island Bank. — The Pot Ground, also called the " Tongue Ground," from its fancied resemblance to a tongue, 

 is frequently an excellent locality for cod fishing in April and May. Since 1880, good fares of cod have been caught in 

 depths of 60 to 90 fathoms on the edge of the bank, SE. by S. to ESE. from the easteili light of Sable Island. From 

 1852 to 1873 certain localities on Sable Island Bank, in depths of 30 to 60 fathoms, were much resorted to by the halibut 

 fishermen, and since the discovery of the deep-water fisheries, in 1875-'76, many excellent fares have been obtained on 

 the "fall off" of the bank along its southern and pastern edges. 



V. This locality, on the eastern part of Sable Island Bank, was a favorite winter halibut ground from 1852 to 

 1873. It was fished on in the winter as late as 1877, but good fares have seldom, if ever, been taken since 1873. 



VI. Several good fares of halibut taken between 1853 and 1868. 



VII. Good haUbut ground in 1852. 



VIII. Good fares of halibut obtained between 1853 and 1873. 



IX. Good halibut fishing at intervals from 1853 to 1870. The schooner William T. Merchant obtained a large fare 

 here in February, 1868. 



X. One fare of halibut has been taken on this steep incline, which slopes rapidly from 150 to 400 fathoms. 



XI. The cross indicates a locality where many excellent fares of halibut were taken from 1877 to 1879, inclusive, 

 in depths of 150 to 300 fathoms. 



XII. One of the best deep-water halibut grounds on Sable Island Bank. Many good fares have been obtained; 

 the bottom is covered with bush and tree corals. 



XIII. The schooner Howard caught 45,000 pounds of halibut j<,t this place in eight days, in August, 1877. 



XIV. Good fares of halibut taken in 60 fathoms, in 1853. 



XV. In this position, in July, 1877, the schooner William Thompson obtained a fare of 100,000 pounds of halibut, 

 and the schooner Howard, fishing only six days, a fare of 82,000 pounds, in depths of 125 to 200 fathoms. Many other 

 good fares have been taken in this vicinity at different seasons, and the edge of the bank, over a distance of more 

 than 60 miles, was a favorite locality for halibut up to the close of 1879. 



XVI. Position where the type specimen of the gold-banded bush coral, Ceraioiais ornala, was taken in 1878. This 

 is one of the most rare and beautiful of the several species of corals obtained on the fishing grounds by the Gloucester 

 fishing schooners. 



XVII. Good fares of halibut obtained by the schooner Gertie E. Foster, in 1875-76. 



XVIII. Good fares of halibut taken in depths of 40 to 50 fathoms, from 18.53 to 1855, inclusive. 



