THE GEAND BANK. 65 



provinces. During the fishing season, which lasts from April first to October, large fleets of 

 vessels from these three countries visit the different parts of this bank. In the early part of the 

 season, April and May, the southern portion of the bank is principally resorted to, and good 

 catches are frequently made south of 44° north latitude. As a rule, however, the larger part of 

 the fleet remain between 44° and 45° north latitude. At this season, sand lant are especially 

 abundant on this part of the bank, and large numbers are often found in the stomachs of the cod. 

 In June, capelin.make their appearance on the bank, at which time the cod seem to greatly 

 increase in numbers. This body of cod, found in connection with the capelin, or in the capelin 

 season, has received from the fishermen the name of "capelin school." It is distributed over all 

 parts of the bank visited by the fishing-fleet. After the beginning of June, many of the vessels 

 move to the northern part of the bank, fishing in the vicinity of, and to the eastward of, the Virgin 

 Eocks. Very few vessels now remain south of 44° north latitude, for the best fishing is found 

 between 44° and 45° 20' north latitude, and to the northward of 46° north latitude. 



As a rule, squid make their appearance on the Grand Bank in July, after which time but few 

 fish can be caught with capelin or herring bait. The body of cod now occurring on the bank 

 is termed the "squid school" by the fishermen. It is probable that these schools of cod, though 

 known by different names, are composed mainly of the same fish that come on the bank in the 

 spring, though with the addition of many others, which appear to be attracted to the region during 

 the summer by the schools of capelin and squid. They occupy the same ground, and the fishing 

 continues through September. Formerly, cod were abundant till December, but, at present, these 

 fish leave the bank at a comparatively early period in the fall. 



The cod fishery of the Grand Bank dates from the earliest settlement of North America and 

 it probably had much to do with the opening up of our country in those early times. 



The halibut fishery began on the Grand Bank about 1865, and has been vigorously 

 prosecuted there ever since. At first the vessels resorted to Eastern Shoal-water, between 43° 

 45' and 45° north latitude, where halibut were then found in immense numbers. Though so 

 abundant at first their numbers soon became greatly reduced, and consequently other grounds, 

 were sought for. For a series of years that section of the bank lying west of 51° west longitude,, 

 and between 43° 40' and 45° north latitude, was the favorite halibut ground, and several large 

 fares of halibut were also taken in the immediate vicinity of the Virgin Eocks for two suc- 

 cessive years (1869 and 1870), during the months of July and August. Notwithstanding the great 

 abundance of halibut on the shoaler parts of the bank (from twenty-two to fifty fathoms), during 

 the earlier years of the fishery, their capture was followed up so closely that they rapidly became 

 much less numerous, and the fishermen were forced to seek new fields in the deeper waters (one to 

 three hundred fathoms) along the southern and western edges of the bank. When first discovered 

 in these deeper places, they were found in incredible numbers all along the western part of the bank . 

 in the winter and spring, and during the entire summer in other localities off the Northwest Prong. 

 Although even in these places halibut are much less abundant now than formerly, the Grand Bank 

 is still the great resort for vessels engaged in this fishery, and this regioji yet remains the most 

 important halibut fishing-ground of the Western Atlantic. 



When the halibut fishery first began on the Grand Bank, large catches could be made in the 

 shoal waters during the entire year. After two or three years' continuous fishing, however, they 

 could be found abundantly on the shoal grounds only in the winter and spring. While they were 

 crossing the bank on their way to more northern localities or to deeper water, to which they were 

 not known at that time to resort by the fishermen, it was supposed that they came on the bank 

 from the eastern and southern edges, as they were distinctly seen to move towards the northwest. 

 SEC III 5 



