208 HISTORY AND METHODS OP THE FISHERIES. 



of the Alaskan fishing grounds fairly swarm with this kind of life suitable to the wants of the cod. 

 The fish which constitute in large measure the food of the cod are herring (Clupea mirabilis), 

 capelin (Mallotus villosus), laut (Ammodyles), halibut (Hippoylossus vidgaris), whiting or England 

 hake (Pollachius chalcogrammus), sculpius (Hemilepidotus Jordan! and trachunis, also Cottus 

 polyacanthoceplialus), and yellow-fish or striped fish (Pleurogrammus monoptcrygius). Sometimes 

 young cod arc swallowed by older ones. I have seen a species of Llparis from a cod stomach on 

 Portlock Bank. The yellow-fish is the best bait for cod, accordiug to Captain Anderson and 

 Captain Catou. Another food-fish of the cod is worthy of mention here, because of the interest 

 which attaches to its common name of "cusk" (Bathymaster signatus), a species very different 

 indeed from the cusk which is so much eaten for cod in the Eastern States. 



Mr. Deviue says that sick cod are sometimes seen feeding at the surface, and sometimes 

 healthy fish will chase bait up. In this way yellow-fish will attract cod to the surface, and capelin 

 will also. I have counted forty capelin in one cod taken on Portlock Bank, July 8, 1880. 



REPRODUCTION. According to Mr. D. C. Bowen, cod about Kodiak come on the rocks in 25 

 to 30 fathoms, spawning in November and December. Capt. H. R. Boweu, of the same island, 

 states that cod, full of eggs, are caught in February. The eggs are very light straw color, and 

 about as large as No. 12 shot. He says that eggs and milt sometimes run from the fish a'fter they 

 are caught. 



Capt. J. C. Caton informed me that cod spawn around the Shumagius in February, on sandy 

 bottom in shore, and that they will bite freely when spawning. Mr. D. C. Bowen says that at cer 

 tain times spawning cod will lie perfectly still on the bottom and not take the hook. 



Mr. Thomas Deviue tells me that the Shutnagin cod spawn in from 10 to 15 fathoms of water 

 in January and February; the size and color of the eggs are the same as in the Eastern cod. The 

 wharf at the Pirate Cove fishing-station is sometimes covered with spawn which has run from the 

 fish after they were lauded. lie says that during the breeding season the males are long and s'itu 

 and the females are short and deep. The smallest codfish he has recognized as such were G inches 

 long, and they appeared in May or June. The smallest ones seen by Captain Bowen were, also, 

 six inches long; they made their appearance about July, and were in company with the old fish. 



On the Cth of July, 1880, we seined many young cod in Eefuge Cove, Port Chatham, Cook's 

 Inlet, where the water was less than a fathom in depth, and was largely diluted by fresh streams. 



At Belkoflsky, on the peninsula of Aliaska, young cod about one and one-half inches long 

 were dredged on the 23d of July. On the following day, while lying on the west side of Oleny 

 Island, a cod 1 inches long was found in the stomach of a large one. 



On the 1st and 2d of October we seined many young cod at the head of Chernoifsky Bay, 

 Uualashka; from the Gth to the 1'Jth of the same month we saw them in great numbers swimming 

 around the wharves at Iliuliuk, Uualashka, very active and wonderfully greedy. "We may, there- 

 fore, say that from May to October, at least, young cod are found in shallow water near the shore, 

 and that about the middle of tbe latter month they have reached an average length of 4 or 5 

 inches. At Iliuliuk, when a jig or a baited hook was let down into the water it would be at once 

 surrounded by a throng of nibbling fry, not at all frightened by the presence and antics of numerous 

 small boys. These small fish frequently succeeded in fastening themselves on the hooks, and were 

 pulled out on the wharf, either to be eaten or used as bait or throwu away. 



DISEASES, PARASITES, ENEMIES. As a rule all large cod caught in harbors, in shoal water, 

 are sick. On the 24th of June, 1880, one was taken in Port Mulgrave, Yakutat Bay, that meas- 

 ured 3iJ inches in length, and was stout and heavy, but sick and unfit for food. The gills were 

 not bright red as in a healthy fish, but dull and faded; the colors of the body were also dull. 



