392 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



lowered in the same manner, and from long practice the natives are very 

 expert. The fish are put in baskets and will keep fresh as long as they remain 

 frozen. A windbreak of ice and snow is frequently constructed. 



Alaska 'pollock. — The Alaska pollock {Theragra chalcogramma) 

 is an abundant and widely distributed species in Alaska. It is found 

 in the Bering Sea and the neighboring waters south to Sitka and the 

 Kurils. It usually swims near the surface and forms a considerable 

 portion of the food of the fur seal and the cod. It reaches a length 

 of 3 feet, although the average is more nearly about half this. At 

 present no use is made of it as food, although in time it will become 

 an important item in the commercial fisheries. In 1907 the writer 

 caught a specimen at Seward, Alaska, but it was apparently so rare 

 in that locality that no one there seemed to recognize it. 



South of Sitka is found a closely related species, T. fucensis, which 

 is said to be abundant in Puget Sound and is found as far south 

 as Monterey Bay. 



Eleginus navaga is common and abundant along the entire Alaska 

 coast and on the Asiatic side as far south as the Kamchatka Penin- 

 sula at least. It is rarely used as food because of the great abun- 

 dance of other better-known fishes. 



Polar cod. — The polar cod {Boreogadus saida) is common along 

 the coasts of Arctic Alaska and northern Siberia. Like the pol- 

 lock, this species has the lower jaw longer than the upper. They 

 form an important article of food with the Eskimos during certain 

 seasons of the year. John Murdoch 10 has the following description 

 of the fishery : 



Usually during the latter part of October and early in November, after the 

 sea has closed and when tide cracks form along the shore, the natives gen- 

 erally catch a good many of them at the very edge of the beach in about a 

 foot of water. 



They use a short line of whalebone, to which is attached a small lure made 

 of blackened ivory, which roughly represents an amphipod crustacean and is 

 armed with a barbless hook. 



After this no more are caught till after the return of the sun, early in 

 February. The natives say that they go away, and it is quite probable that 

 they leave the shore and go off into deeper water. If there were any fish to 

 be caught, the natives would undoubtedly fish for them during the winter 

 months, as at this season they are frequently hard pressed for food. 



Early in February they become exceedingly abundant in about 15 fathoms 

 of water wherever there is a level field of the season's ice not over 4 feet in 

 thickness, inclosed between rows of hummocks of broken ice. * * * Large 

 numbers of the natives from the Cape Smythe Village, especially women and 

 children, resorted to this field nearly every day and caught these fish literally 

 by the bushel. 



The fish are jigged and the hook is kept near the bottom. 



SPECIES MISCALLED COD 



A confusing feature on the Pacific coast is the number of species, 

 unrelated to the Gadidse and none of which resemble the true cod, 

 which are commonly known as cod and which frequently are classed 

 with the cod by the uninitiated. Among these the more prominent 

 are the following : 



Cultus cod, blue cod, buffalo cod, or ling cod (Ophiodon elongatus) 

 is a large, coarse fish that reaches a length of 3 to 4 feet and a weight 



10 Natural History, Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, 

 Alaska, Fishes, pp. 129-130. (1885.) 



