shore1 n Cp OED ~ sb1 1 'land bordering on the sea' etc (13..) for sense 1; for combs. in sense 2: cp OED 5 ~ fast naut (1867), DC ~ ice (1752-). Cp COAST n, INSHORE, LANDWASH.
1 The perimeter of the island of Newfoundland and Labrador marking the juncture of the marine resources of the region (birds, fish, seals. etc) with the coastal strip and its hinterland bordering the bays, coves, harbours and inlets, comprising the area of aboriginal and European settlement and fishery enterprise; particular stretches of coast-line, often with defining words: EASTER, FRENCH, NORTH(ERN), SOUTH(ERN), STRAIGHT, TREATY, WESTERN.
[1583] 1940 Gilbert's Voyages & Enterprises ii, 400 [Hayes' narrative] The Admirall fell upon a rocke on the larboord side by great oversight, in that the weather was faire, the rocke muche above water fast by the shore. [1663] 1963 YONGE 56 As soon as we resolve to fish here, the ship is all unrigged. and in the snow and cold all the men go into the woods to cut timber, fir, spruce, and birch being here plentiful. With this they build stages, flakes, cookroom, and houses... The stages are begun on the edge of the shore, and built out into the sea. [1675] 1895 PROWSE 192 That no Planter cut down any wood or inhabit within six miles of the shore. [c1756] 1933 GREENLEAF (ed) 236 "Wadham's Song": Then nor'west by west twelve miles or more, / There lies Round Head on Fogo's shore. 1863 PEDLEY 48 But the French were recognized as having the right of fishing concurrently with the English along certain portions of the shore, and the use of the shore so far as was needed for the prosecution of their fishery. 1866 WILSON 280 'I never was at St John's,' said our friend; 'but you must steer north-east seven leagues to Cape Chapeau Rouge, then east half south twenty-three leagues to Cape St Mary, then south-east about twenty-two leagues, and you will come to Cape Race, and St John's is on that shore.' 1912 Nfld Qtly Dec, p. 28 Although the shore is for the most part barren along this portion of the coast, the seas are full of cod-fish and thousands of men come annually to these parts to engage in the summer fishery. [1920] 1933 GREENLEAF (ed) 291 "The Thorwaldsen": The wreck is all that is left of you, / Washed high on a foreign strand, / That tells the fate of the gallant crew / On the shore of Newfoundland. [1929] ibid 250 "Change Islands Song": No sign of salmon on that shore; discouraging was the news; / No pirate money could be found, and not a fish for brewis. 1969 Christmas Mumming in Nfld 3 And the cod, in a unique phenomenon, detach enormous numbers of their deep sea populations each spring and summer, turning in pursuit of the tiny silvery caplin and other 'baitfish' on their annual roll, or 'scull,' towards the shore. 1976 WINSOR 95 As the woman at the head of the grave bent down to place her shovel of earth in the grave, the tall plume of her hat would fall over her face, as she exclaimed, 'This was never known before'; and as the woman at the foot of the grave placed her shovel of earth, the plume of her hat falling over her face, she would say, 'On this shore.' So they continued until the grave was filled, all the time repeating, 'This was never known before,' 'On this shore.'
2 Proverb In a leaky punt, with a broken oar, It's always best to hug the shore (1895 Christmas Review 12).
the shore eats up the fog
1860 MULLOCK 41 Though in general [the fog] does not penetrate far inland, as the people say, 'the shore eats up the fog.'
3 Attrib, comb shore boat: any of the small undecked craft used in the coastal fishery; SKIFF, TRAP': ~ BOAT.
1842 BONNYCASTLE ii, 161 The little shore boat, with its simple apparatus, has settled the question already, as to whether a native and resident population cannot carry on the cod-fishery with less expenditure and more success than vessels from a distance, tossing and tumbling on the foggy and uneasy swells of the great banks.
shore boss: man (or woman) in charge of the processing of cod ashore (m 70-27).
shore cod(fish): see shore fish.
1826 Edin New Phil J i, 33 The shore-cod resembles most the cod in a healthy state on the coasts of Britain, and is that of which the greatest quantity is caught, owing to its being most conveniently taken: the back is of a dusky brown colour; the belly, silvery or yellowish, and the spots in general not remarkably distinct. 1941 SMALLWOOD 18 [advertisement] Exporters Shore and Labrador Codfish.
shore cod-fishery: see shore fishery.
1895 PROWSE 21 The shore codfishery, known amongst the French as 'La pêche sedentaire,' was pursued [in the 17th c] very much in the same manner as it is carried on to-day. The boats went out before dawn, returned with their loads, the fish were thrown up at the stage heads, split, and salted.
shore crew: (a) members of a fishing crew who process the catch as it is landed; see SHOREMAN; (b) at the seal hunt, crewmen remaining aboard to work the vessel while the sealers are on the ice.
1866 WILSON 207 The shore crew are mostly females. The planter's wife is generally skipper of the shore crew. 1882 TALBOT 24 There were four or five persons, including one or two women, kept about the house and stage; these were called the shore crew, whose business it was to receive the fish at the stage-head from the boats, and put it through its various stages. 1924 ENGLAND 189 Pans heave and grumble apart... Yelling, the stabber-pole crew come running back and fall to work. Cooks, stewards, all the shore crew line the rails, shout advice. P 102-60 A shore crew would unload them with fish prongs on top of the stage head while the two lighter men called at the bunk house for breakfast. 1972 NEMEC 8 Each boat which was 20 to 30 feet in length carried a crew of four and in addition required a 'shorecrew' of two.
shore cure(d fish): cod-fish prepared for market with light application of salt and extended drying period. See also CURE, MERCHANTABLE, SPANISH FISH.
1947 TANNER ii, 758 The best cure is obtained from fish dried on the flakes when the weather has been fine enough to dry them thoroughly but not so fine as to burn them. The produce is known as 'shore-cured Labrador fish' and will be sold to the Newfoundland merchants for export. 1953 Nfld Fish Develop Report 59 The predominance of the 'shore-cure,' i.e. dried light-salted codfish, is evident. This ... is the principal product of the traditional industry. T 175/7-65 There's different cures: what they call the shore cure, light salted—that had to be fairly good an' hard. 1969 HORWOOD 82 The traditional Newfoundland way of making fish inherited from the Bristol men, to whom salt was an expensive commodity, requires light salting, very careful handling, washing, pressing, and prolonged sun-drying to achieve the aromatic, amber perfection of a good 'shore cure.'
shore duck: (a) American common eider (Somateria mollissima dresseri); SHOREYER; (b) black guillemot (Cepphus grylle atlantis); PIGEON, SEA- ~ .
[1918-19] GORDON 75 Had a good feed of two shore ducks, sent down by Miss Bright from Spotted Islands. 1951 PETERS & BURLEIGH 115 This eider is the common 'shore duck,' and is the race which nests in our territory... When inhabitants of the outports speak of 'ducks' they usually mean eiders, for it is the most common duck on the coast. 1959 MCATEE 40 ~ Black Guillemot (Nfld., 'Labr.'). T 389-672 Was that kings or shore ducks? That was shore ducks, sir. There might have been a scattered king bird among 'em.
shore-fast: line and mooring attaching cod-trap or seal-net to the land.
[1772] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 231 We hauled the nets ... we afterwards tightened the moorings, and fresh corked part of one of the nets. On the ebb the upper killick came home, which obliged me to cast off the shore-fast of the southernmost one, to prevent its being torn. 1936 SMITH 125 This was some job for two men, but we went out and started from the shorefast to take it in; the sweat was streaming from our foreheads as we hauled the trap in the boat. 1937 Seafisheries of Nfld 33 In the centre of one side there is an opening about six feet wide through which the leader passes into the [cod] trap for several feet. These traps are usually set with the free end of the leader fastened to the land by a line, known as a shore-fast. C 63-1 As soon as they could make their way through the ice in the late spring, the fishing schooners would race for Labrador to get the best trap berths. The first crew to put down their shorefast (a post that the trap leader was tied to) and fasten the leader to it was the crew that had that berth for the summer. 1967 FIRESTONE 89 The leader [of a cod trap] ... its end is marked with a buoy and it is held to the landwash by a shore fast.
shore fish: (a) Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) frequenting or migrating to coastal waters; (b) cod-fish prepared for market with light application of salt and extended drying period; see shore cure above.
1765 WILLIAMS 5 From the Shore Fish, you have Three Hogsheads of Oil to an Hundred Quintals: But from the Bank Fish you have but a small Quantity. [1811] 1954 INNIS 237 The shore fish are so dry and horney that we get only 8 ct. into a common hhd. 1842 BONNYCASTLE i, 264 In this town the bank-fish, or those caught on the banks, are supposed to be superior in quality to the shore-fish. or those caught near the coast. 1870 Stewart's Qtly iv (2), p. 15 So, too, the vast fish colonies of the Great Banks, at a considerable distance from the shores, differ from shore fish, being larger and finer. 1907 Parson's Christmas Annual 7 In the early part of the past century, the splendid new ship General Wolfe, owned by the above firm of George and James Kemp, of Poole, England and Carbonear, left the latter port ... with a full cargo of shore fish. 1919 FPU (Twillingate) Minutes 27 Nov The Chairman remarked that Mr Ashbourne was paying eight and a quarter for Labrador fish and also saying that shore fish was on the move up. 1933 Nfld Royal Commission Report 106 The fish, when culled or valued according to quality, are divided into the following grades:- (1) Shore Fish (including Bank Fish), dry salted. (a) Choice. (b) Merchantable. (c) Madeira. (d) West India. 1937 Seafisheries of Nfld 47-8 Light Salted, Hard Dry Fish, known as Shore Fish... The Hard Dry Shore fish must be sound, with an even surface, thoroughly clean, not showing salt, well split and thoroughly hard dry. T 168/70-65 Shore fish, for to be merchable fish, it had to be reasonably thick, and show no signs of salt. Yellow cast. T 141-652 I ended up wi' six quintals o' fish. An' I remember it was six dollars a quintal, 'twas shore fish, too. 1976 CASHIN 69 We had to rely on our own judgment as to whether or not it would be a good day for the curing of shore fish.
shore fisherman: fisherman who operates in coastal waters near his community using nets, hook-and-line or traps.
1937 Seafisheries of Nfld 29 The gear most favoured by the Shore fishermen are cod-traps, cod-nets, hand lines, trawls and jiggers. 1960 FUDGE 42 [I] am now trying to influence our Government to build a fisherman's Bait Cooler here in Belleorarn to supply our shore fishermen with sufficient bait supply all the year around. 1975 BUTLER 65 He supplied fishermen, boat owners and shore fishermen in a number of harbours in Placentia Bay.
shore fishery: fishery, esp for cod, prosecuted in inshore or coastal waters in small boats; SEDENTARY (FISHERY).
[1803] 1976 HEAD 222 They have always been successful [in the northern fishery] while the shore-fishery to the southward has frequently failed. 1809 Naval Chron xxi, 23 There is what is called the shore fishery; which is carried on by large open boats, called shallops, which go out and return nearly every day, and fish very near the shores: the fish which these boats take are small in size, well cured. and are, in general, the best. 1853 SABINE 32 Thus, as in all shore-fisheries, the fishermen always sleep at their own homes. 1882 TALBOT 30 This [price] applies, however, to the shore fishery. as the fishery in the bays and along the coast of Newfoundland is called. 1911 MCG RATH 129 The principal branch of the cod industry is what is known as the 'shore' fishery, that prosecuted directly from the coast of the Island by the thousands of seafarers settled in its countless coves and creeks. 1933 Nfld Royal Commission Report 99 The shore-fishery accounts on the average for three-quarters of the entire catch of Newfoundland. [Its] distinguishing features ... are that it is an 'individual' fishery, i.e. that it is prosecuted by individual fishermen spread round the Island's 6,000 miles of coastline. 1978 Evening Telegram 2 Feb. p. 6 Over the past two decades [foreign fleets have fished] off our coastal waters to the point of nearly wiping out our shore fishery.
shore fishing: see shore fishery.
1868 Royal Geog Soc xxxviii, 263 All the fishing was 'shore fishing,' no such thing as 'bank fishing.' T 455-671 I fished then. Oh, shore fishing—handline. 1977 RUSSELL 18 Anyway, he's finished with the Labrador fishery and he's settled down to shore fishin' like the rest of us.
shore gang: see shore crew (b).
1925 Dial Notes v, 341 ~ Those of the crew left aboard.
shore herring: variety of the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus) which migrates periodically to coastal waters; see HERRING.
1883 HATTON & HARVEY 324 There are two varieties of herring taken on the shores of the island—the Bank (called also the Labrador) herring, and the Shore herring ... the Bank being the full-grown fish, and measuring on an average thirteen and a half inches, while the Shore is eleven inches long.
shore ice: sea-ice which adheres to the coastline.
1887 Colonist Christmas No 13 When safely landed on the shore-ice, no time is lost in shifting the mails to the sleighs in waiting. 1916 HAWKEs 27 The 'shore' ice, or ice which adheres to the land, and is often seen in spring after the ocean is clear of pack ice, is called qaí naq. 1969 HORWOOD 84 When you travel by hopping from pan to pan over ice so small that the individual pieces will not bear your weight, you are 'copying over the ballycaters,' but only if it's shore ice, because a ballycater has to make along shore.
shore labrador: cod-fish caught in Labrador waters and prepared for market with light application of salt and extended drying period; see shore cure above, and cp LABRADOR.
1920 FPU (Twillingate) Minutes 18 Nov The Chairman read circular letter no. 12 ... stating shore Labrador was practically unsaleable.
shoreman: see SHOREMAN.
shore net: net used in coastal waters.
1974 Federal Licensing Policy 41 The [salmon] drift-net fishery started in the 1930's, when small 'skiffs' (single dory schooners) using cotton nets began stringing shore-nets together and 'drifting' through the inshore areas as much as 15 miles out during night hours.
shore plantation: water-front buildings and structures where fish are landed and cured; PLANTATION 2, ROOM.
1979 Salt Water, Fresh Water 56 He was the boss of the shore plantation, he stayed ashore and looked after the women.
shore punt: see shore boat above; PUNT.
1857 MOUNTAIN 6 They have other punts, called 'shore punts,' merely for the purpose of hauling the nets and bringing wood, &c.
shore seal: small non-migratory seal of coastal waters (Phoca vitulina); BAY SEAL (1826 Edin New Phil J 40).
1913 HOWLEY 27 The common Bay or shore seal ... is that prettily marked or spotted animal ... which frequents the bays and estuaries.
shore season: period when the cod-fishery in inshore or coastal waters is prosecuted in small craft; cp SEASON.
1787 PENNANT 45 The fishery is divided into two seasons: that on the shore, or the shore season, commences about the 20th of April, and ends about the 10th of October; the boats fish in from four to twenty fathoms water.
shore skipper: jocular term for a retired fisherman.
1979 NEMEC 271 Retired fishermen (or 'shore skippers' as they are sometimes occasionally referred to).
shore work: all the operations of processing and curing cod.
1972 MURRAY 51 Thus a skipper's wife had to have a keen weather sense for when the men were away, she was responsible for the direction of the 'shore work.'
