LABRADOR AND GULF OF SAINT LAWRENCE 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 obfiined, 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. 
NrEts.—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, 24 to 23 inch mesh, from 
15 to 20 fathoms in length and 24 fathoms deep. When the vessel is on the fishing ground they 
are set from ler stern. Bait is sometimes sought at the Magdalens in the spring, and the nets 
are then anchored near the shore. 
Bart.—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. F. 
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, 
