THE FISHES OF ALASKA. 291 



The best account of the habits of this fish is that given by Turner. It is so interesting and 

 instructive that its republication, with some slight modification, is justified. Turner says: a 



Wlien I arrived at Unalaska in 1878 I heard much talk about the ■'mackerel." During the summer 

 of Ihat year I had an opportunity of conversing with those who frequented the western Tslands of the 

 Chain, wliere these fish were said to abound. Several persons referred to these fish as "Spanish 

 mackerel," othei-s called them "horse mackerel" and "Alaskan mackerel," and under several scientific 

 names. They were serv'ed at the table on sev'eral occasions, and all who ate of them liighly praised 

 their good qualities and spoke of their great resemldance in taste to the Atlantic mackerel! It waa 

 not until in May, 1879, that I had an opportunity of vis'i'ting the locality where they were said to be 

 abundant. 



During the summer of 1879 I was at Atka Island, and soon made inquiry concerning the lish. I 

 was told that they make their appearance in the narrow pass between the islands of Atka and Amlia 

 about the 1st of .lune, and that the fish invariably come from the Pacific Ocean, which here mingles 

 its waters with that of Bering Sea. 



The first arrivals of fish are the males of largest size and beauty of color. They arrive a few days 

 before and await the arrival of the females and immature males. 



By the 18th of June the fish have come in countless thousands. They arrange themselves with 

 their heads toward the tide curreitts which rusli violentl)- through the pass. The flood tide sets in 

 from the Pacific, while the ebb ficiws toward the Pacific, or. in other words, a southerly directed current 

 for the ebb and a northerly directed current for the flood tide. The pa.ss is very rocky, with inimerous 

 sunken rocks in tlie middle and on the eastern side. The western side of the pass has the deepest water 

 and is 3 fathoms deep in the channel. On the north side of the pass numerous ledges of rocks, hidden 

 rocks, kelp patches, and small islets of but few feet above the water's edge are to be found. It would 

 be very difficult navigation for a vessel of over 20 tons to go tlirough there with safety. The natives of 

 the present day cross pretty well to the north side of the pass until they get under Amlia Island and then 

 run near the shore of Amlia with their small bidari or open boats. 



Among the seaweeds or kelp patches on a cloudy day of clear lower atmosphere the fish may be seen 

 in the following order: 



The young males and immatiu-e females form a stratum of three or four fish deep and several feet 

 wide; beneath these a second stratum of older males and females, whose roe is not yet developed, and 

 will later, in the .spawning season, take their place with those in the third stratum, which is coinpi sed 

 of vigorous males and females. The latter are the most abundant. The female deposits her eggs on 

 the kelp, though much of it must doubtless be lost by the swift currents washing it off. These'males 

 and females remain in this place until the spawning season is over, generally by the 20tli of July, after 

 which they gradually disperse and quickly find their way back to the Pacific. Many times I have 

 seen huge halibut lying like large flagstones beneath the lower stratum of fish, waiting for one to come 

 within reach. Without moving a great distance I could see over a dozen halibut at a time. I estimated 

 the weight of some of the larger ones to be not less thait 350 pounds. 



The natives of Atka repair to this place and have several turf houses of small size built there. It 

 is also a garden spot where a few vegetables, such as radishes, turnips, and a few potatoes, are planted. 

 To attend to their gardens and to be near the fishing grounds the Aleuts of many places have built 

 these summer villages. Here assemble all the old men not able to hunt and the children and women 

 of the hunters gone off on a summer's cruise for sea otters. These lay in a store of dried and salted 

 fi.sh for their sons and friends. 



The natives obtain the greater number of the fish in the following manner: Each man has a two- 

 holed bidarka (canoe). In it a small boy sits in the front hole while the old man sits in the rear hole. 

 The man uses a pole of several feet in length (generally not le.ss than 12 feet longi, on which is firmly 

 secured a hook of iron, having a flattened p liiit with a sharp edge and a notch filed im the inner side 

 to act as a barb. Wlien the canoe arrives at the place the hny is ordered to seize hold of a strong frond 

 of the giant kelp, which streams out sometimes for over a hundred feet, and among which the fish are 

 most abundant. After coming thus to anchor the man carefully thrusts the pole into the water, and 

 if the fi.sh are plentiful he will soon feel them surging against it. He now begins to jerk it up and down 

 in the water to gig any fish that may come along. In a few seconds he brings one out. The work 

 now becomes exciting, for scarcely has the pole been again thrust in the water than it is jerked into 

 another fish. A man may thus, in a couple of hours, take 200 to 300 fish. After the canoe is loaded 

 it is taken to the shore, where the women slit open the back of the fish, take off the head, clean out the 

 entrails, and with a cut on each side the backbone is removed to the tail. The two sides of the fish 

 are left hanging together liy the tail. This is to enable the fish to be hung over a pole to dry. Often 

 the men bring the fish directly to the principal village and clean them there, though this is done more 

 often when the fish are to be salted. At the season between June 25 and July 25 the fish are extremely 

 fat from the abundance of a small crustacean, which has previously come in mjTiads to the same places 

 as these fish. The fish which are to be dried are usually taken about the 1st of August, as they are so 

 tat before that time that I have seen the oil drip from the drying fish. They also, from the presence 

 of the oil, become rancid in a short time and are said not to keep so well. 



At Attn Island also I had an excellent opportunity for studying the habits of these fish. At this 

 place the fish are most abundant at the entrance to Chichagof Harbor, on the northeast shoulder of the 



o Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska, by L. M. Turner, p. 96, Wasliin^on, 1886. 



