Fishing Grounds of the Gulf of Maine | Page 9

ground except for the shoal parts,
where it is mainly rocky. This piece of fishing ground furnishes good
cod fishing in June, July, and August, which formerly was carried on
by hand-lining but now, as elsewhere in the bay, is more and more
becoming a trawl fishery. Haddock and pollock also are taken here in
fair amounts.
Mussel Shoal Ground. This is a mussel-covered bottom lying 8 miles
ESE. from the Eastern Wolf and 9 miles from Point Lepreau. It runs in
an E. and W. direction and is about 2 miles long by 1 mile wide.
Depths are from 40 to 50 fathoms. This is a mussel and scallop bed,
where large cod are usually in abundance in winter. Pollock are plenty
here in June, and hake are here and in the surrounding Hake Ground in
all the summer months.
The Wolves. These make a group of small islands lying N. ½ E. from
Grand Manan, distant 8 or 10 miles. On the bottom of rocks and gravel,
extending about a mile from the shores of these, in depths of from 18 to
34 fathoms, small boats and small vessels take a quantity of fish by
trawl and hand line. These are mainly haddock and cod grounds in May
and June and pollock grounds in June and July. It is also a winter
lobster ground for Canadian fishermen.
The Wolves Bank. This bank lies between The Wolves and Grand
Manan, distant about 8 miles from East Quoddy Light, SE. ½ E. Marks:
The Coxcomb showing to the eastward and just touching on the
western edge of Green Island: bring the heads of Grand Manan to form
The Armchair, and White Horse and Simpson Island into range. This is
a small-boat ground of scarcely more than 6 acres, with depths of 18 to
30 fathoms on a bottom of rocks and mud. Species and seasons are as
on The Wolves. Southeast from The Wolves from 2 to 20 miles lies a
piece of muddy bottom where hake are usually abundant in summer.
Campobello and vicinity. Fair quantities of haddock and cod are found
between Grand Manan and the American shore in the North Channel
(Grand Manan Channel) between West Quoddy Head and Grand
Manan in depths of from 40 to 50 fathoms, over a bottom of rocks, mud,
and sand in June, July, and August and up to September 15, while hake

is the most abundant species present.
No haddock or cod are on these grounds in winter. Halibut are taken in
similar numbers in the North Channel in May, June, and July. Pollock
are taken on the western side of Campobello Island, near the eastern
side of Indian Island, and at the mouth of the channel between
Campobello and Casco Bay Island. In all these places are strong tidal
eddies. Some fish are taken by seining, but most are caught by hook
and line in a small-boat fishery lasting from June 1 to September 1.
All around Campobello and Deer Island and on the New Brunswick
shore as far as St. John are located weirs, which furnish large quantities
of herring to the factories at Eastport and Lubec.
Passamaquoddy Bay. [11] Depths here are from 10 to 24 fathoms, even
30 fathoms where the St. Croix River passes out into the sea. In general
the bottom is muddy, although there are rocky patches. In most years a
school of cod "strikes" here in April, the early corners being mostly of
small size, but the later arrivals may reach 30, 40, or even 60 pounds.
Haddock sometimes make their appearance in the bay as early as May
1, remaining through August. Hake, also, are present from June to
September, but this excellent fish is held of little account by local
fishermen. A considerable flounder industry is developing in these
waters, the fish being taken in specially devised traps as well as by the
smaller otter trawls.
Passamaquoddy Bay is also a spring netting ground for herring (food
fish), and there are also many weirs in operation here each year whose
catch goes to the factories of Eastport and Lubec for canning as
sardines. Pollock are very abundant, and a great deal of fishing for
them is carried on from June to October, both by seine and hand line.
At times the pollock completely fill the many herring weirs, until, from
their numbers, there is no market for them. Pollock are also abundant at
the same season and are taken by the same methods in the St. Croix
River, though perhaps they leave the river a month earlier in the fall.
The Mud Hake Grounds. These grounds extend about N. and S.
between Campobello and The Wolves and from about West Quoddy
Head to Grand Manan. Their length is about 15 to