Keel, also known as a "float." Part of a set comprising three circular cork buoys. The keel is made of glass, which is quite unique and attests to the age of the object.

The object reflects a skill traditionally associated with or practiced by the people of Gaspé and Acadia, specifically fishing. Glass floats, usually colored, were used to keep nets afloat during fishing. They are also called "trawl balls" and are usually woven into a net using marine knots. (https://www.decoration-marine.com/flotteurs/250-flotteur-de-peche-en-verre-2.html).

A reference to the setting of nets ("trawls") attached by ropes and buoys for cod fishing can be found in Treasure Trove in the Gaspé, Margaret Grant Mc Whirter, 1919, p. 125. (https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/1983441)

In France, sailor-knotted glass balls were used as floats on flag buoys (as flotation devices), on lines (ropes connecting the buoy to nets or traps) to indicate the direction of the current and allow for better "lifting," and on the nets themselves to stabilize them vertically at the bottom of the water. To moor them and protect them from impact, fishermen would "sailor" them during the winter, wrapping them in a "rope" (pronounced "boutte" = cordage) made of natural hemp. As hemp is not resistant to moisture, these fishing floats were then "coaltared" (dipped in liquid bitumen) to protect them..." (http://www.lecomptoir-mogueriec.fr/produits/flotteurs-de-peche-en-verre-moules-artisanalement-recouvert-dun-filet-en-nouages-marins/)