them to delay for many months the opening of the fishery. No bank vessels 

 were equipped to capture herring, the right to fish for which on the French 

 Shore still remained. Such an enterprise would involve enormous cost as 

 well as the loss of considerable time. 



Facing the obligation of returning to outdated baits, heads and entrails 

 of cod which gave a mediocre yield, it seemed the French metropolitan fish- 

 ery would be obliged to abandon the waters of Newfoundland. 



The solution to this problem came so quickly that the only victims of the 

 Bait-Bill were the Newfoundland fishermen themselves who found themselves 

 deprived of an important source of income. It was the Fecamp fishermen, 

 who, seeking for many years a way to beat the high price of bait as well as 

 the regular unloading at Saint-Pierre, had the idea of baiting the lines with 

 Buccinus undulatum , a large periwinkle well-known on the Channel and At- 

 lantic coasts of France. The fishermen of Newfoundland called it the "bulot". 

 It was also called the 'grand vignot" (big periwinkle) or "coucou". 



Buccinus is found everywhere on the Grand Banks; it abounds in certain 

 areas, notably on the southeast part of the Grand Banks, which is, at the 

 beginning of the fishing season, more or less the center of activities for the 

 line trawlers. In spite of its preference for squid, herring, and capelin, the 

 cod does not disdain the tough flesh of Buccinus which has moreover, the ad- 

 vantage of hooking the cod firmly. If it is not the best bait, it is the most 

 precious for, in the areas where it is found, one can fish all season and cap- 

 ture it easily. Buccinus was known all the time by the Newfoundland fisher- 

 men, who used it at times when their bait supply was low; but never, except 

 for the happy initiative of the Fecamp fishermen, provoked by the hardships 

 of the Bait-Bill, would they have thought to make general use of it as they did 

 the squid which they also caught at the place of the fishery during its occa- 

 sional appearances. 



Use of Buccinus presented, however, a serious inconvenience owing to 

 the necessity of breaking the very hard shell at the time of baiting the lines. 

 This operation was done, at first, with the aid of a wooden mallet; but be- 

 sides the time it took, it presented a serious danger to the fishermen because 

 fragments of shell could hit them and cause wounds subject to infection. 



Attempts to use crushing mills had mediocre results because of the great 

 variation in size. 



77 



