Following the Fish, Mapping the Way: Cod Routes, Fisher-Pilots and Early Maps of the Grand Banks, 16th–19th Centuries GAELLE DIEULEFET a , BRAD LOEWEN b AND BERNARD ALLAIRE c a UFR Histoire, Histoire de l’Art et Archéologie, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France; b Faculté des arts et des sciences, Département d’anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada; c Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland This paper posits that relations between cod ecology, traditional piloting practices, and transatlantic fishing methods underline the construction of cartographic knowledge of the Atlantic coast of North America and the Grand Banks in the 16th to 18th centuries. Based on an inventory of more than 200 maps showing the Grand Banks from 1500 to 1825, we show France’s preeminent role in mapping the Banks. We identify the early 16th- century role of fisher-pilots in mapping the coastline and the accore, or outer edge of the Banks, two corridors of abundant marine life. A new carto- graphic idea, showing the Banks as a chain of plateaux, appears in 1543 and increased from 1584 to 1630. Beginning in 1674, the French Admiralty acquired and reproduced charts made by Basque and Breton cartographers who had direct contact with fisher-pilots. The Admiralty began producing its own charts after 1713, using a system of consulting fishing captains. KEYWORDS Cartography; cod; fisheries; banks; Newfoundland Cet article postule que les relations entre l’écologie de la morue, les pratiques de pilotage traditionnelles et les méthodes de pêche transatlan- tiques sous-tendent la construction de la connaissance cartographique de la côte atlantique de l’Amérique du Nord et des Grands Bancs aux XVIe et XVIIIe siècles. À partir d’un inventaire de plus de deux cents cartes représentant les Grands Bancs de 1500 à 1825, nous démontrons le rôle prééminent de la France dans la cartographie des Bancs. Une sélection de TERRAE INCOGNITAE, Vol. 00, No. 00, 2025, 1–30 © 2025 The Society for the History of Discoveries DOI 10.1080/00822884.2025.2500255