Apparently the earliest known and certainly the most extensive of these
is the Great Bank of Newfoundland, so named from time immemorial. From
the Flemish Cap, in 44° 06' west longitude and 47° north latitude,
marking the easternmost point of this great area, extends the Grand Bank
westward and southwestward over about 600 miles of length. Thence, other
grounds continue the chain, passing along through the Green Bank, St.
Peters Bank, Western Bank (made up of several more or less connected
grounds, such as Misaine Bank, Banquereau, The Gully, and Sable Island
Bank); thence southwest through Emerald Bank, Sambro, Roseway, La Have,
Seal Island Ground, Browns Bank, and Georges Bank with its southwestern
extension of Nantucket Shoals.

To all these is added the long shelving area extending from the coast
out to the edge of the continental plateau and stretching from the South
Shoal off Nantucket to New York, making in all, from the eastern part of
the Grand Bank to New York Bay, a distance of about 2,000 miles, an
almost continuous extent of most productive fishing ground.

Within the bowl that is the Gulf of Maine, the outer margin of which is
made by the shoaling of the water over the Seal Island Grounds, Browns
Bank, and Georges Bank, this chain is further extended by another series
of smaller grounds, as Grand Manan Bank, the German Bank, Jeffreys Bank,
Cashes Bank, Platts Bank, Jeffreys Ledge, Fippenies Bank, Stellwagen or
Middle Bank; and again, lying inside these, this fishing area is
increased by a very large number of smaller grounds and fishing spots
located within a very short distance of the mainland.

All these banks are breeding places of the most valued of our food
fishes--the cod, haddock, cusk, hake, pollock, and halibut--and each
in its proper season furnishes fishing ground where are taken many other