BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 299 
“The best track hitherto used (IS77) is in latitude 57° 20' north, and 
longitude 1° 4(K east. * * * As the bank is of recent discovery as 
a trawling ground, it is not considered as yet to be fully explored, but 
we find that the eastern part is foul, more or less, and that tlie ’north- 
western part is most productive, large quantities of fish, chiefly had- 
docks, plaice, and cod, being brought from here to the Hall and Grimsby 
markets. This ground has now (1881) been worked about 5 years.” 1 
The Cromer Know l , first fished on about 1858, lies north of the Leman 
and Lover Sands, between them and the Dowsing Bank. It has a 
depth varying from 12 to 18 fathoms, with generally clear bottom for 
trawling, on which, when first discovered, the more highly prized spe- 
cies of the North Sea fishes were found in abundance. 
The foregoing will give a general idea of the most important North 
Sea trawling grounds, which, for the purposes of this report, it seems 
scarcely necessary to describe in greater detail. 
Areas of bottom, suitable for fishing with a beam-trawl, of greater 
or less extent are found along the coast of the continent, near the east 
coast of Scotland, in the English Channel, along the west side of Eng- 
land, 2 and off the coasts of Wales and Ireland, but they are too nu- 
merous to mention even by name in this place. Suffice it to say that 
the southern and western grounds have generally been worked much 
longer than the majority of those in the North Sea, and in general 
characteristics, such as depth, kind of bottom, etc., they are like the 
latter, though as a rule of less extent. 
The kind of fish chiefly taken on the above-mentioned grounds are 
turbot, sole, brill, plaice, lemon or cock sole, dabs, and halibut, of the 
Pleuronectidce , or flat-fish family; cod, haddock, hake, ling, and whiting, 
of the Gadidce ; besides which conger eels, wolf-fish, skates, gurnards, 
and a variety of other less important species are caught. 
At first, previous to the introduction of ice for preserving fish, the 
grounds nearest the British coast were the only ones which could be 
fished on, and trawling was then carried on chiefly in the English 
Channel from Dover to Land’s End, and along the coasts of Wales and 
Ireland. With improved methods for preserving the fish in a fresh 
condition, the smacks were enabled to venture farther in pursuit of new 
and richer fields for carrying on their operations. In this way they 
continued to discover new fishing grounds, either by accident or de- 
sign, until at the present time it is pretty safe to say that there is little 
fisherman’s Seamanship, by O. T. Olsen, F. R. G. S., F. R. A. S. Grimsby, 1881, 
p. 103. 
2 According to Mr. Edward Cattran, a veteran fisherman of Mount’s Bay, the Ply- 
mouth andBrixham trawlers fish chiefly on what is known as the ‘ f Brixham Ground,” 
and from there round to Mount’s Bay. Off Mount’s Bay, he says, sole and other spe- 
cies of flat-fish, with occasional ling, are taken, while “coarse fish” are chiefly caught 
off Brixham and Plymouth, though with the latter more or less soles and other flat- 
fish are taken. Hake are often found in abundance. 
