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Page 42
The principal halibut grounds on Georges for the spring and summer
months (April to July) lie between the Cultivator Shoal and the North
Shoal in depths from 10 to 18 fathoms, and E., S., and SW. from the
North Shoal in the same soundings. This area is sometimes called Little
Georges. There are also a number of mussel grounds on the southwest part
of Georges, having depths averaging 20 fathoms, all of which furnish
good feeding grounds and a substantial catch of halibut in the seasons
when these fish are in the shoal water.
During July and August the halibut are found along the Northern Edge,
over a stretch of ground about 65 miles long in 60 to 100 fathoms; and
from this time until the hard weather of the winter begins the fishing
goes on about the Northeast Peak (about 42� 00' N. and 66� 00' W.) over
the narrow area on the edge of the suddenly deepening water, beginning
in from 60 to 70 fathoms, then out to 200 and even 300 fathoms. The
winter fishing on Georges is very difficult and somewhat hazardous, so
that the halibut fishery in these waters is rarely carried on or, at
best, by very few vessels after November or before March.
Mackerel are usually quite abundant on Georges in their season,
generally being large or medium fish. Herring also are found there in
good number but are somewhat distant from market as fresh fish.
[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� 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
Browns Bank. This bank lies in a northeastern direction from Georges
and is separated from it by a gully 15 miles wide, in which the depths
range from 100 to 450 fathoms. Its area is about 2,275 square miles. The
greatest length, from SE to NW, is 63 miles and the greatest width is 43
miles. It is situated between 64� 52" and 68� 29" west longitude, and
41� 50" and 43� 02" north latitude. There is a small rocky shoal on the
northern part, on which, it is said, there is not 9 to 15 fathoms. The
bank slopes away from the shoal, S. and E. to depths of 55 to 75
fathoms, but at a distance of 12 or 15 miles off, it again rises to 30
to 50 fathoms. This area of shoal water, within the 50 fathom limit, is
50 miles long and has an average width of 15 miles. North of the shoal
the water deepens suddenly to 70 and 80 fathoms. The bottom is largely
coarse sand, gravel, pebbles, and rocks and is rich in animal life. The
area of the bank is approximately 1,370 square geographical miles.
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