From the southeast to the southwest of Newfoundland, at a certain dis- 

 tance from shore, extend the Banks, a continental shelf of considerable area, 

 almost equal to that of France, which represents the remains of an ancient 

 sunken continent, on which are accumulated glacial deposits resulting from 

 the melting of icebergs carried from Greenland by the Labrador current. 



To the east, one finds first, at 45 degrees of longitude, the Flemish 

 Cap, which a deep channel separates from the Grand Bank. The latter, the 

 largest bank of all, extends through four degrees of latitude and six degrees 

 of longitude. The chain of banks, separated by more or less deep depres- 

 sions, continues from Green Bank, St. Pierre Bank, Banquereau to the banks 

 to the west which extend to the island of Nantucket. 



The depths of the banks vary between 50 and 100 meters. Their relief 

 is not uniformly regular. They present certain irregularities, such as the 

 Whale Deep, up to the shallow bottom of Virgin Rocks. At the edge of the 

 great bank is the region of Platier where the depth does not exceed 40-50 

 meters, during many centuries the area most exploited by the fishery. 



The climate of the banks, as well as that of Newfoundland, is less ex- 

 treme than that of regions situated to the west. It sometimes happens that 

 the approaches to the island are blocked by ice floes part of the winter. 

 The strait of Belle Isle is closed each year by ice until May. In summer 

 the temperature is never high. From spring to autumn, the region of the 

 banks becomes a realm of fogs which are produced by condensation result- 

 ing from the meeting of the cold Labrador current with the Gulf Stream 

 which comes in contact with it. 



The cod (Gadus morrhua) is the largest fish of the family Gadidae to 

 which belong many fish of great commercial value such as the hake, the 

 pollock, and the whiting. In its general form it is characterized by three 

 dorsal fins, two anal, short pelvic fins and by a barbule that hangs from 

 its lower jaw. Its coloration, subject to adaptation to the bottom by mim- 

 icism, is far from uniform. The back is more or less marbled on a back- 

 ground varying from green to red passing through grey, yellow and brown; 

 the stomach and the lateral line are white. 



Some cod attain an impressive size and weight. Some have been taken 

 of lengths from 1. 8 to 2 meters with weight of 100 kilograms. However, 

 those which measure 1. 5 meters with a weight of 40 kilograms are already 

 very rare and usually a fish of 10 kilograms is a very beautiful cod. In 

 the scale of market weights, a cod of 3 kilograms green-salted, represen- 

 ting a live weight of about 4 kilograms, is classed as a big fish. 



