12 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
Polar cod.—The polar cod (Boreogadus saida) is common along 
the coasts of Arctic Alaska and northern Siberia. Like the pollock, 
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® 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 
generally 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 Gadide and none of which resemble the true cod. 
which are commonly known as cod and which are frequently classed 
with the cod by the uninitiated. Among these the more prominent 
are the following: Cultus cod, blue cod, or buffalo cod (Ophiodon 
elongatus). is a large, coarse fish reaching a length of 3 to 4 feet, and 
a weight of 30 or 40 pounds, with the flesh a livid blue or green in 
color. It is found from Sitka to Santa Barbara, and is especially 
important as a food fish in British Columbia and the State of Wash- 
ington. In cooking, the flesh of this fish turns white. 
Black cod, coalfish, beshow, or skill (Anoplopoma fimbria), is 
tound from the Aleutian Islands to Monterey. It is most abun- 
dant in the regions frequented by the halibut, from southeast Alaska 
to the Washington coast. It attains a length of 18 to 20 inches and 
a weight of 5 pounds. Many are marketed in a fresh, frozen, or 
salted condition, and the fish is growing steadily in popularity. It 
is usually taken in deep water, from 70 to 90 fathoms, though it is 
often found even at depths of 200 to 250 fathoms. 
“Natural History, Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, 
Alaska, Fishes, p. 129-30. (1885.) 
