taken here in small amounts by trawling. It is a herring ground also,
and there is a lobster ground on the shoal and all about it.

A cod ground extends offshore SW from Briers Island, beginning about 5
miles out from the island and extending to about 18 miles from the land.
Its width is about 4 miles. Depths over this area are from 40 to 60
fathoms over a hard, shelly bottom. Cod are taken here in from 30 to 44
fathoms on the shoal ground running from 5 miles from Gull Rock and the
South-West Ledges down to the Lurcher Shoal, a distance of about 22
miles. Between these points fishing is done mostly by hand-lining "at a
drift." Cod are taken over the ledges in 5 fathoms of water and thence
out to 60 fathoms about them from August to November. Pollock are taken
by the same method. The best season is August. September, and October.
This is a good lobster ground.

Northwest Ledge. Lies about 3 3/4 miles northwesterly from Briers
Island. This is a piece of rocky bottom about 2 miles long by something
less than 1 mile wide with depths of from 2 to 10 fathoms over the ledge
and soundings of 12 to 30 fathoms on the gravelly ground about it. Cod
are found here in good number from September to November, inclusive, and
are taken by hand-lining. Pollock also are taken here in summer,
"drailing" by hand line.

A narrow piece of rocky ground with somewhat greater depths connects
this with Batsons Shoal, some 5 miles SW., the two thus making what is
virtually one piece of ground. Depths on Batsons Shoal are rather less
than on Northwest Ledge, but the methods of fishing, the species taken,
and the seasons of their abundance are the same on both. The bottom all
about these two grounds is rocky, with from 20 to 40 fathoms inside of
them, but this deepens rapidly to 100 fathoms over rocks and coarse