Bonavista Bay

Bonavista Bay opens onto Newfoundland's eastern coast between Cape Freels and Cape Bonavista. Islands divide its sheltered inner waters from the cold Atlantic beyond. The Beothuk moved through the inner bay and its inlets in search of salmon, capelin, seals and seabirds, while European fishing crews sought cod around the outer islands and headlands. English fishing stations spread into the bay during the late seventeenth century; as settlement expanded, the Beothuk found access to coastal resources increasingly difficult.