BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 259 



COD AND HALIBUT FISHERIES NEAR THE SHlJiniAOIIV ISLANDS.* 



By DR. KRAUSE. 



[From "Deutsche Geographiscbe Blatter, " Vol. IT, part 4, Bremen, 18S1, pp. 267-269.] 



You may imagiue bow greatly we regretted the fact that we could 

 not spend the whole of July iu Behring Strait, as we thereby lost a great 

 deal, especially with regard to botauy aud ornithology. All we could 

 do duriog this part of our voyage hardly compensated us for this loss, 

 although an opportunity was offered to make many interesting observa- 

 tions. Several times, when the vessel was becalmed near the coast, we 

 emi)loyed our leisure in cod-fishing. The most favorable result we ob- 

 tained in the neighborhood of the UnimaJc Passage, where on the 25th 

 July, we caught 80 codfish — related to or identical with the European 

 Gadus jnorrhua {Eabljaii), Gadus macroceplialus Til. — and 3 halibut 

 (lieilhutten). The delicate fiesh of these fish offered a welcome variety 

 in the monotony of our daily fare of salt meat. The captain, however, 

 did not appear to be altogether satisfied with the result of our fishing ; 

 as last year he had, while becalmed in the Unimah Passage, caught 

 several hundred codfish, which not only supplied his entire crew with 

 fresh meat for ten days, but which also enabled him to salt down several 

 barrels full of fish for future use. The largest halibut caught by him 

 weighed 30 pounds; but occasionally some are caught weighing 300 

 pounds and more. The codfish as a general rule exceed in size our 

 ." Kahljau. " The weight of a medium sized cod (after the intestines have 

 been removed) is about 9 i^ounds. The best fishing grounds are in the 

 neighborhood of the 81i umagin Islands, where many thousands of fish are 

 annualy caught on a sand-bank about 10 miles from the coast. Three firms 

 in San Francisco send for this purpose small vessels, of about 120 tons, 

 both to the Shumagin Islands and to the Sea of Ochotsl<.\ Last year a 

 vessel was also sent to Sitlca, x)rincipally to fish for halibut, and report- 

 ed very good fishing grounds near that place. 



The full cargo of a vessel of 120 tons is 75,000 fish, which are packed 

 in boxes weighing 30 pounds each. This cargo is generally made up in 

 three months. About 12 fishermen are exclusively occupied in fishing, 

 whilst 5 boys tend to the cleaning and salting, for which they receive 

 monthly wages. The fishermen do not receive fixed wages, but $25 for 

 every thousand fish. The captain of the vessel, who has to keep an 

 account of the number of fish brought in by the fishermen, is paid by a 



* '■'Kahljau undHpMhuttenfangheidenSchumafjinlnseln" — [trauslated from the German 

 by Herman Jacobson]. 



t Compare M. Lixdeman: ^^Die See fischereien," supplement to No. 60 of " Peter- 

 7nann's Alittheiluitfjen," pp. 59 & 60, aud M. LiNDEMAX: " Amtlichc Berichte ubcr die 

 Berliner Fischerci-Ausstellung" (Official Report ou the Berlin Fishery Exposition), II, 

 "Scefischerei,"]). 184. 



