PACIFIC COD FISHERIES 391 



is quite different from the one found on the Alantic. The minor 

 species of the Gadidse found on this coast are described below. 



Ling. — The ling (Lota maculosa) is our only fresh-water member 

 of the Gadidse, and is said to be common in the Yukon Basin, and 

 lias also been reported from the Nushagak, Fraser, and Columbia 

 Rivers. Large numbers are found in Lake Chelan, Wash. It at- 

 tains a length of 1 to 3 feet. Although fully as palatable as the 

 ling found in east-coast streams, it is rarely utilized as food, except 

 in British Columbia and Washington, where small quantities are 

 marketed. 



Tomcod. — The tomcod, or wachna (Microgadus proxiiivus), is 

 found in abundance from Alaska to Monterey. In the more southern 

 portions of its range it is often sold in the markets as " smelt." In 

 form the tomcod is a miniature cod, and there is difficulty in dis- 

 tinguishing the young of the two species. The tomcod rarely ex- 

 ceeds a foot in length and is esteemed as a delicacy in many localities. 



In the northern portion of Bering Sea the wachna, as it is called, 

 is of great importance to the natives, who depend upon it for a con- 

 siderable part of their food supply during the winter season. Mr. 

 Dall 9 has the following to say of this fishery : 



This fish much resembles the common tomcod of the Eastern States, * * * 

 but while the latter is of most insignificant importance from its scarcity and 

 poor quality, the former species occupies a very important place in the domestic 

 economy of both natives and Russians on both shores of Bering Sea. It is 

 apparently a permanent inhabitant of these coasts, but is most abundant in 

 the fall of the year, when the ice begins to form in the rivers and along the 

 shores. The Waukhni fishery commences about the middle of October. At first 

 it is caught from boats anchored close inshore, but later the natives cut holes 

 in the new ice, set up two or three stakes, with a mat hung upon them to keep 

 off the wind, and sit there all day, hauling them in as fast as the line is dropped 

 into the water. The hook is made of white walrus ivory, furnished with a 

 sharp pin set in obliquely but without a barb. The whiteness of the ivory, 

 which is kept constantly in motion, attracts the fish, but no bait whatever is 

 used. In November, when the ice becomes very thick and the cold increases, 

 the fish retire to deeper water, and the fishing is over until the following 

 spring. * * * They are preserved by removing the intestines and drying in 

 large bunches strung on seal line, or by throwing them as they are into long- 

 cylindrical baskets made of twisted grass and keeping them entire in a frozen 

 state. * * * They are among the most palatable of the many fish found in 

 these seas, and the number preserved is so great as tc be almost incalculable. 

 They serve the natives for food, either boiled or in the rrozen state. They also 

 form an important article of dog feed in the northern portions of Alaska near 

 the coast. 



Hon. James Wickersham, former Delegate from Alaska, furnished 

 nif the following description of the apparatus used by the natives 

 and their method of operating same: 



When the Eskimo woman is fishing through the ice on Bering Sea for tomcod 

 she uses a line with a barbless hook at the end. She also has two short sticks 

 in her hands and generally a baby strapped on -her back. As soon as she gets 

 a bite she slips one stick a foot or two down the line and begins raising it up. 

 As soon as the stick gets too high she slips the other a few feet below the first 

 but on the other side of the line, and thus continues hauling in the line with 

 the sticks alternately until finally the catch comes above the ice. With a quick 

 movement of the line and stick the fish is shook off, and frequently before it 

 falls onto the ice is frozen solid. The woman is wearing heavy gloves, and the 

 reason for not touching the wet line with the gloved hands is to prevent them 

 from getting wet and covered with ice and thus becoming useless. The line is 



Report of Commissioner of Agriculture for 1870, p. 3S1. (1871.) 

 18163—27 2 



