40 U. S. BUREAU OP FISHERIES 



Herring are very numerous in all waters of the Russian far east, 

 but they are of commercial importance only in the Gulf of Peter 

 the Great, the Tartar Gulf, and the west coast of Sakhalin. The 

 average weight of this herring is about half a pound. It has been 

 exported to Japan (as food and fertilizer) , Korea, and China. Russia, 

 which consumes a large quantity of herring, is a ready market for 

 the product. On the eastern coast of Kamchatka Peninsula herring 

 schools are so closely packed that it is said they can be dug out with 

 a spade. These schools then move to the Okhotsk Sea, where they 

 sometimes block certain streams, as, for example, the moutn of the 

 Kukhtui River. The quality of Kamchatka herring seems to be 

 very high. Experiments have shown that an excellent product, 

 hardly inferior to the best European brand, can be prepared from it. 



Cod are also numerous in Russian far eastern waters, but the 

 natives ignore the fish. Only Japanese and Americans are engaged 

 in catching cod, principally for Japansee and Chinese markets. 

 Shoals of cod, when breeding, sometimes reach a length of over a 

 mile, with a depth of several feet. 



Fresh-water species are carp, pike, eelpout, grayling, trout, and 

 bream. 



Crabs are of large size and palatable. They are caught principally 

 on the southern portion of the eastern Siberian coastline, namely, 

 in America, Vostok, Ussuri, and Amur Bays. Crabs are sold fresh, 

 dried, and canned. In 1921 there was erected near Povorotni 

 Peninsula a crab-canning plant, which packed 1,500 cases from the 

 season's catch. Another plant, erected in the same year on the 

 River Svetlaya, south of Imperial Bay, also turned out several 

 thousands of cases. China, Manchuria, and Korea are large con- 

 sumers of dried crab meat. 



Shrimp are found in large quantities in the southern paters of 

 the Russian far east, and the meat has a good flavor. 



Oysters are also of large size and numerous. The best oysters 

 come from De Kastri Bay. China, Japan, and Korea are good 

 markets for the product. 

 ■'"V*^-/ Sea cucumbers or trepangs (Holothuria edulis) are common along 

 the entire Russian Pacific coast, especially in Peter the Great Bay. 

 •The dry weight is about 6 pounds. 



Sea kelp is a brown seaweed with leaves about 22 feet long and 

 13^2 inches wide, which usually grows near the shore on rocky bot- 

 toms. This weed is found along the coast of the Japan Sea and 

 Sakhalin Island. There is a great demand for it in China. 



Fur seals and sea otters are caught on the Commander Islands 

 (near the middle part of the eastern shore of Kamchatka). These 

 animals congregate on these islands in summer, but their number 

 has greatly decreased, due to excessive killing by hunters. In 1890 

 on these islands 53,224 seals (CallorMniis ur sinus) were killed, and 

 in 1911 only 206 skins were taken. The number of sea otters (Latax 

 lutris) killed also fell from between 200 and 250 in 1900 to 46 in 1911. 

 The killing of fur seals in the open sea was prohibited for a period 

 of 15 years by the fur seal treaty of 1911. This was an interna- 

 tional measure, taken in order to increase the number of these 

 valuable animals. 



