402 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



toward Wedge Cape, also, at the upper end of Nagai Island. The 

 bottom on this ground is smooth and is composed of fine, hard 

 gravel; the depth of water is about 30 fathoms. The strong tide 

 and the proximity of the numerous small islets that form part of 

 the group make the use of a power vessel necessary. 



Should the otter trawl ever be adopted for codfishing. AVest Nagai 

 Strait would be one of the most favorable spots in all Alaska for its 

 operation, as it has a comparatively smooth sandy bottom with depths 

 throughout the greater portion from 25 to 40 fathoms. 



Pirate Cove, the oldest shore-fishing station operated in Alaska, 

 is located on the northeast point of Popof Island. The grounds 

 frequented by the fishermen of this place lie in Gorman Strait, be- 

 tween Popof and Korovin Islands, and along the eastern side of 

 the island as far south as Popof Head. 



In Unga Strait, an inshore bank begins at Gull Island, in 40 

 fathoms, and runs westward to Bay Point (known locally as Nigger- 

 head). The bank is about a mile offshore and is about a mile in 

 width, with a depth of about 30 fathoms nearly everywhere. The 

 bottom is of packed sand, with very little moss. 



In Portage Bay (now known as Balboa Bay) is a small bank, 

 upon which large fish may be taken during the summer months. 

 The bank extends up the middle of the bay to the 5-f athom sounding. 

 The soundings on the bank range from 25 to 35 fathoms. The 

 bottom is of gravel and contains numerous holes. 



In Beaver Bay, along the peninsula, good fishing may be had. 

 Here the bottom is sandy and the average depth is about 25 fathoms. 



On the northern, eastern, and western shores of the Sannak 

 Islands are inshore banks, on which cod are to be found throughout 

 the late fall and winter; but throughout the rest of the year the fish 

 are in water too deep for the station fishermen to fish. On the 

 northern side are four shore stations. Owing to the danger of the 

 fishermen being blown to sea in the gales that spring up very sud- 

 denly in this region, no shore stations have been established on the 

 south side. 



Along the shore of Unimak Island, from Cape Pankof to Cape 

 Lutke, codfish used to be numerous during the summer months. 

 This ground is really the inshore portion of Davidson Bank. At 

 Dora Harbor, on the south side of Ikatan Peninsula, Unimak Island, 

 are located two shore stations, and the fishermen from these fish out 

 around Bird Island. For a year or two after the stations were 

 opened they made big catches, but after that they dwindled until 

 about 50,000 fish now represent the combined catches. Several 

 schooners usually fish on the main ground, a few miles offshore dur- 

 ing the spring months, off Cape Pankof being a favorite spot. 



Just off Akutan Harbor, on Akutan Bay, cod are said to be 

 abundant. While the schooner Vega, of Seattle, was taking aboard 

 water in the harbor late in June, 1911, her fishermen, hand-lining 

 from dories around the mouth of the harbor, caught 1,500 cod on one 

 day and 2,700 the day following. The Albatross investigations 

 in the same year showed that cod were abundant and quite large 

 close inshore off North Head, Akutan Island. 



The Albatross investigations showed that cod were abundant di- 

 rectly off Chernoffsky Bay, on the Bering Sea side of Unalaska 



