CARAQUET

town and fishing port, Gloucester county, northeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies along Caraquet Bay (an inlet of Chaleur Bay), near the mouth of the Caraquet River, 42 miles (68 km) northeast of Bathurst. Founded about 1760 by shipwrecked French seamen, it is one of the province's oldest French settlements and was named for the bay, which may have derived its name from a French nautical term, caraque, meaning carrack, or large galleon. After 1784 the town became strongly French Acadian. It is now the home port for a large Atlantic fishing fleet and has a fisheries school, boatbuilding facilities, and fish-, crab-, and oyster-packing plants. Historical associations are reflected by its Acadian Museum and the nearby reconstructed Acadian Historical Village. The blessing of the fleet by the bishop of Bathurst is a notable annual (July) event. Inc. 1961. Pop. (1991) 4,556.