Fishing Grounds of the Gulf of MaineRich, Walter H. (Walter Herbert)
History
Fishing Grounds of the Gulf of Maine
Rich, Walter H. (Walter Herbert)
Fisheries -- Maine, Gulf of
[Table 4--Fishing grounds of the Georges Area, showing the principal
species taken upon them.]
By far the largest percentage of the swordfish catch landed in the ports
of Boston, Gloucester, and Portland comes from Georges Bank. A
considerable portion of the fish listed from this ground under the
heading "Miscellaneous" is made up of this species.
The swordfish arrive on Georges on the Southwest Part and on the
Southern Edge about June 5, and the traveling schools pass over the
bank, northward bound, up to August 10. In fact, all through the season
when they are present in northern waters, even up to November, they may
be found on Georges. Probably the best area of the bank for this species
is on the parallel of 41 deg. N., where the shoal rises steeply out of
"blue water."
[Footnote 14: Capt. John Smith wrote of this region: "Toward the South
and Southwest of this Cape (Cape Cod) is found a long and dangerous
shoal of sands and rocks. But so far as I incircled it, I found thirtie
fadom water aboard the shore, and a strong current; which makes mee
thinke there is a Channell about the shoales; where is the best and
greatest fish to be had, Winter and Summer in all that Countree. But the
Savages say there is no Channell; but that the shoales begin from the
main at Pawmet, to the Ile of Nausit; and so extends beyond their
knowledge into the sea." That the captain's reputation for far-visioned
wisdom may not be held too lightly, let these figures speak, taken as
they are from the bureau's records of the landings at the three ports of
Boston, Gloucester. and Portland for the year 1927, when the fares from
his "Channell" numbered 2,036, with a poundage of 121,688,693 and a
value of $3,607,358.]
[Footnote 15. "The earliest record of this name (Saint Georges Shoal)
that the writer has found appears upon a map discovered in the library
of Simancas, in Spain, where a chart said to have been made by a
surveyor sent out to Virginia by James I of England, in 1610, was found
in 1885 or 1888, after having long before disappeared from England. This
chart is thought to embody, besides the work of Champlain and other
foreigners, the information contained in the English charts of White,
Gosnold, Pring, and probably of Waymouth's Perfect Geographical Map. It
is thought to have been drawn by Robert Tyndall or Captain Powell."
_Genesis of the United States_. Alexander Brown.]
OFFSHORE BANKS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account