CHAPTER VI.

Fisheries, Fur Trade, and other Resources not previously mentioned.

XTENSIVE fisheries have always been considered by all nations as among the most productive sources of wealth and prosperity.

The annual value of the British fisheries is estimated at twentyfive millions of dollars. Those of the French produce three millions, and the catch of American vessels on the northeast coast has an annual value of two millions.

The abundance of fish on the shores of Alaska has been a matter of wonder since the voyages of the earliest navigators. Billings, Cook, La Perouse, Lütké, Lisiánsky, Belcher, and Sir George Simpson, have all borne credible witness to the myriads of cod, salmon, halibut, and herring, which are found on the northwest coast. Fish have always formed the largest part of the food of the native population, and while the fisheries, from a commercial point of view, are still in their infancy, yet there can be no question as to their immense value and extent.

The principal marine fish of the Alaskan waters are cod, halibut, herring, tomcod, úlikon, and mullet.

The cod are the most abundant and valuable of these fish. They are found principally on soundings of about fifty to twentyfive fathoms. The most northern point reached by the cod is determined by the floating ice line of Bering Sea. This passes between the St. Matthew and Príbyloff groups of islands and touches the mainland in the vicinity of the mouth of the Kuskoquim River. North of it there are no cod. They extend southward to the vicinity of the Straits of Fuca, but are most abundant from Yakutat Bay north, and west among the islands of the Kadiák and Aleutian Archipelagoes. The cod-banks are generally in the vicinity of land, but off-shore banks have been found, though the fishermen endeavor to keep the locality of any such

discovery to themselves. The fisheries extend clear across the Pacific, and abundance of cod are found in the Ochótsk Sea. In searching for cod-banks, fishermen may generally take the trend of the adjacent land or groups of islands, and the banks, if any, will probably be found in the line of that trend or in lines parallel with it. The known banks are of greater extent than those of Newfoundland. The best, as far as known, are near the Shúmagin Islands.

The best Ochótsk banks are near Sakhálin Island, or on the west coast of Kamchatka. The round voyage to the Ochótsk averages 170 days. That to the Shúmagins is usually about 110 days, a saving of two months, and 2,000 miles in favor of the latter, to say nothing of the safe harbors close at hand and the greater facilities for obtaining fresh provisions, wood, and

water.

The importation of Atlantic cod into the markets of San Francisco averaged about 500 tons in 1863 and 1864.

The product of the Californian fishermen hitherto has been as follows:

The immense catch of 1867, of which more than one half was from the vicinity of the Shúmagins, temporarily overstocked the market, and in the spring of 1868 only twelve vessels were engaged in the fisheries against twenty-three the previous year. In the quarter ending December 31, 1868, eight vessels of 2,442 tons, employing 237 men, were engaged in the fisheries. It is much to be regretted that since the purchase of the territory no record of imports of this kind has been kept, as they came under the head of coastwise trade. This has rendered it impossible to obtain full statistics of the fisheries.* For the quarter ending June 30, 1868, 470 cwt. and 17 bbls. of fish, were exported from San Francisco to New York. The value of cod obtained from foreign waters during the same period was $119,127, which

*The catch for the autumn of 1869 is just reported as one million and eighty-two thousand fish. This, at the low average of three pounds and a half each, would be worth, at five cents a pound, $ 189,350 in gold.

shows abundant room for the extension of the fisheries in American waters. The total amount of fish from foreign waters imported into the United States during the eight months ending August 31, 1867, was 994,988 lbs., and for the same period in 1868, 927,540 lbs.

There appear to be two kinds of cod in the Pacific fisheries, both of which are distinct species from the Atlantic cod. As a rule, the heads are larger in proportion to the bodies than in the latter. The first of the two kinds referred to is small, but of good quality, and appears to frequent the banks during the entire year. The other and larger species arrives on the banks about May 10th, and leaves them about September 10th. These are a little smaller than the Ochótsk fish, but dry heavier, averaging about four pounds. The Shúmagin fish are the best in quality, and most of the Californian fishermen have abandoned the Ochótsk for these fisheries.

No tongues and sounds, and but little cod liver oil, has been saved by these fishermen as yet. Ten thousand gallons of oil were reported in 1866. The Shúmagin fishermen, according to Mr. Davidson, from whose report many of the above facts were obtained, are in the habit of running into Coal Harbor Saturday night, and remaining there during Sunday.

The supply of bait has been sometimes taken from San Francisco, at a cost of about $100 for a one-hundred-ton vessel. Others have relied on halibut and sculpins. There are many places near the banks where the dredge would bring up abundance of shell-fish excellent for bait. This is the case in the shallow part of Coal Harbor, and in the harbor of St. Paul's, Kadiák. Herring and other small fish in their season might be obtained in immense quantities at slight expense for the same purpose.

The prices of salt codfish of first quality, in San Francisco, have ranged from thirteen cents to seven and a half in gold, per pound. It is not probable that they will continue so high. These fishermen, like other Californians, are in haste to make money, and if it does not come in as fast as they wish, are apt to disparage the fisheries. They are not content with the small and steady gains which satisfy Eastern fishermen. I saw recently in the telegraphic column of a newspaper the following item. "San Fran

cisco. Arrived, schr. reports of the fisheries"!

with 35,000 codfish, and discouraging Prudence and care are not extensively

consulted in business on the West Coast, and great expectations are the rule.

Cod have been taken at Nootka, Sitka, Litúya Bay, Yakutat Bay, Chugách Gulf, Cook's Inlet, through the whole Aleutian chain, Bristol Bay, and the Príbyloff Islands. In 1865 and 1866 the Western Union Telegraph vessels obtained abundance of fine cod in Coal Harbor, Únga Island, and off Únimak, in August.

The weather on the fishing banks from June to the middle of August is rainy and foggy, with southeast winds. From that time until the latter part of September northwest winds and fine weather are usual. Later in the season heavy southerly gales occur.

The halibut are smaller than those of the Eastern fisheries, but near Sitka and along the coast they have been taken from three to five hundred pounds in weight. They are not found north of the ice line in Bering Sea, except, perhaps, in summer.

The herring, which resemble those of the North Sea of Europe, arrive in incalculable numbers in June on the shores of Bering Sea, as far north as the Straits. The fishery lasts but a fortnight, and is over by the 15th of June. They are caught in seines by the natives, and kept until half putrid, especially in Kamchatka, when they are reckoned a delicacy. They are also found at Sitka and along the southern coast, but I have not been able to find out at what season they arrive. They are caught in immense numbers by the Indians, who have only a lath with three nails driven through it and sharpened. With these they beat the water, which is so full of fish, during their season, that it is rare. not to see a herring on every nail. They fill their canoes easily in less than an hour. Their method of fishing for cod and halibut is mentioned elsewhere.

The "mullet" is not known to me, but Seemann mentions it as replacing the salmon north of Kotzebue Sound along the coast. The tomcod or waúkhni of the natives is a permanent resident of the more northern coasts. It is more plenty in the fall than at other seasons. It is caught with an ivory hook without bait or barb, especially just as the ice begins to form along shore, in Norton Sound. Boat-loads are obtained, as they bite at the white ivory hook as fast as they can be pulled up. I saw immense quantities of them in Avátcha Bay. They would be well suited for bait.

The úlikon has long been the subject of remark from those who have visited the part of the coast where it abounds. It is a small silvery fish, averaging about fourteen inches long, and resembling a smelt in general appearance. The most important of the native fisheries is on the Nasse River in British. Columbia. The spot is named Kit-lák-a-laks, and there was a mission situated there. Many tribes come to these fisheries, which begin about the 20th or 25th of March. The first fish is addressed as a chief, with appropriate ceremonies. After these are over, the fishing goes on for a fortnight or three weeks. The fish are caught in a sort of basket made of wicker-work. They are the fattest of all known fish, and afford a superior oil when tried out. The amount of fat is so great that it is impossible to keep them in alcohol for scientific examination.

Dried, they serve as torches; when a light is needed, the tail is touched to the fire, and they will burn with a bright light for some time. No description can give an adequate idea of their numbers when ascending the river; the water is literally alive with them, and appears as if boiling. Wild animals draw from the stream with their paws sufficient for all their needs. I have not heard that these fisheries have been utilized, except by the natives.

The fresh-water fish of Alaska are principally salmon, whitefish, losh, or burbot, pike, and suckers.

The salmon are of many species. Those best suited for food are called by the Russians chowichee (Salmo orientalis?), korbúska (Salmo proteus ?), and góltséh (Salmo alpinus?). On the Yukon the redfish (Salmo sanguineus?) is also a favorite. Other kinds, with large heads and many bones (S. dermatinus and consuetus), are dried for the use of the dogs. The number of salmon annually consumed by the natives of Alaska cannot be less than twelve million, at the lowest estimate. At the single Russian fishery near Deep Lake, Baránoff Island, 84,159 fish were obtained during the season, of which two thirds were salted. At the fisheries on Kadiák and Cook's Inlet, 465,000 salmon were caught annually. Among the articles sent by Baránoff to the Sandwich Islands were 4,344 casks of salted salmon, which realized the sum of 93,161 R. s. At the mouth of the Yukon not less than two million salmon are dried every summer, and probably double that