56 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FTTR INDUSTRIES IN 1917. 



Sharfe may l)e taken in considerable numbers in various places 

 in southoastorn Alaska. The fishing gear employed especially for 

 taking sharks is not unlike that used in the halibut fishery. It is 

 said by the Marine Products Co. that the ground line should be either 

 48-pound tarred line or three-eighths cotton line, and that No. 15-0 

 Cirby japanned hooks set every 6 fathoms well fastened to a light 

 flexible galvanized wire ganging, not over 3 feet long, should be 

 used. It is said that experience lias demonstrated that 300 fathoms 

 of ^ear containing 50 hooks is sufficient for a set. it should be held 

 witn two regulation halibut anchors and buoyed with three or four 

 floats. Sets should be made preferably on muddy bottom and 

 allowed to remain from three to five hours in the daytime and through- 

 out the night if set in the evening. It is said that salmon heads are 

 the best bait, but that halibut heads or fresh fish of any kind wiU be 

 suitable, in view of its possibilities, it would seem that the shark 

 industry ought to be developed much more actively than has been 

 the case heretofore. 



MISCELLANEOUS FISHERY PRODUCTS. 



Probably every food fish taken in iilaska has at the present time 

 some commercial use. In part limited utilization may be due to a 

 lack of suita])le fishing gear required for the capture of a considerable 

 quantity of fish, but as the quality of the somewhat neglected species 

 becomes known a demand for them will be created which in turn wiU 

 cause attention to be given to an improvement in methods of fishing 

 whereby production may be augmented. 



Prominent among the little utiUzed species are the smelt, ling cod, 

 eulachon, tomcod, flatfish, and atkafish. The atkafish, or greenling, 

 is a fish of recogniiicd food value and one whose exploitation is worth 

 undertaking, 'fhat it is not known to be generally abundant except 

 in the extreme western part of Alaska, particularly the Aleutian 

 Islands, is a factor which must be reckoned with in connection with 

 the possibility of its development into a fishery of commercial import- 

 ance. The isolation of the region is sufficient to close it to that class 

 of operators who would be most likely to do the prospecting or 

 pioneering. At present only residents of the region, or companies 

 established in other industries in western Alaska, nave access to the 

 most promising fields, as the cost of laying down supplies at Unalaska 

 with the means now provided by public ci*rriers would be prohibitive. 

 Excepting one company, none of those engaged in the salmon indus- 

 try in western Alaska has attempted to develop the atkafish fields. 

 Iii due time the companies engaged in the cod industry may find 

 opportunity to investigate the possibilities of this fishery. 



In 1917 the total production of miscellaneous fishery products Id 

 Alaska was 114,167 pounds, valued at $2,247. 



