the Grand Banks, sometimes also on the banks to the west, Saint-Pierre and 

 Banquereau, or more rarely to the northeast, on the Flemish Cap, known 

 for the size of fish often taken in abundance, but where the depth requires 

 special arrangements for anchoring the vessels. 



Following surveys initiated in 1929 by the Office of Fisheries, on the 

 banks of the west coast of Greenland, the custom became general, among the 

 sailing vessels, to leave the Newfoundland waters at the end of June to end 

 the fishing in this region where, in certain years, the catch is very great, 

 consisting of very large fish. 



The conclusions of studies carried out by Le Danois and Commander 

 Beauge on hydrographic conditions favorable for great concentrations of cod 

 have actually placed the Office of Fisheries in position to furnish fishermen 

 a precise annual forecast on the comparative yields to anticipate at Newfound- 

 land and at Greenland. 



The fishery continues for each vessel until the hold is full or until the 

 end of the season. 



A three-masted vessel can actually carry 7, 000 to 8, 000 quintals (hun- 

 dredweight), the quintal of cod which is, in reality a metric half- quintal, be- 

 ing counted at 55 kilograms for green cod such as the vessels deliver, and at 

 50 kilograms for dry cod. In an average year, a catch of 5, 000 quintals is 

 generally considered satisfactory. 



Sometimes the vessels, having exceptional fishing, return to France at 

 the end of August with a full trip. In normal conditions, the vessels leave by 

 the 15th of September, the last vessels leaving in the first days of October, 

 a little earlier from Greenland than from Newfoundland because of the cold 

 and the rapid decrease in the length of day in polar latitudes. 



T -C- 



* 



Among the vessels which the French fishermen find each year on the 

 banks, the most numerous are the Portuguese. Since remote times, salted 

 and dried cod has had an enormous consumption in Portugal, and one can af- 

 firm that the possibility of provisioning vessels with salted cod, which was 

 the staple of the crews and transported soldiers, was a contribution of first 

 importance to the great conquests of the Portuguese navigators in the 15th and 

 16th centuries. 



93 



