How common were cod in Maine waters?
Recently, researchers at the University of New Hampshire used fishing logs to reconstruct the catches of mid-nineteenth century small boat fishermen of western Hancock county, where there are essentially no cod to be found today. In 1861, using small sailboats and baited hand lines, they were able to catch more cod than the entire modern U.S. fishing fleet was able to catch in the entire Gulf of Maine between 1996 and 1999.
