18 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
When fishing on this bank the larger vessels generally ride out 
storms. When the vessel begins to drag the anchor is usually buoyed 
and the vessel either puts to sea or goes to Caton Harbor. 
Between Sannak Bank and the beginning of the Shumagin Bank 
to the eastward lies a large area of comparatively shoal water, over 
the greater part of which cod are to be found in varying abundance, 
although this ground is not much frequented, owing to the absence 
of convenient safe harbors in its western half, and the presence of 
the dangerous Sandman Reefs to the northwest. In the eastern 
portion vessels can easily find shelter among the Shumagin Islands. 
A few vessels occasionally fish for a short portion of the season in 
this region. This area shows depths of 38 to 74 fathoms and is, 
roughly, about 1,800 square miles in extent. ‘The bottom is ex- 
ceedingly variable, consisting in different places of sand, mud, peb- 
bles, gravel, and rocks, the latter occurring only near Sannak Bank 
on the one side and near the Shumagin Islands on the other. 
Shumagin Bank.—Shumagin Bank lies to the south and southeast 
of the Shumagin Islands, with its outer margin following approxi- 
mately the trend of the coast line formed by the adjacent islands. 
On the westward the bank has been traced to about longitude 159° 
52’ west, but undoubtedly extends farther in this direction. East of 
the Shumagin Islands it reaches north to the latitude of the upper 
end of Big Koniuji Island. Its width within the 100-fathom curve 
to the south of the group varies from 15 to 35 miles to the nearest 
outlying island, while its area has been estimated at about 1,800 
square miles. The depths over a large part of the bank are less than 
50 fathoms, the bank not being separated from the islands by deep. 
water. The character of the bottom on the bank varies greatly, sand, 
pebbles, gravel, broken shells, mud, and rocks being found in dif- 
ferent places. Rocky patches are of frequent occurrence, even in 
comparatively deep water. These rocky patches are a grave source 
of danger to vessels anchored on the bank, as they chafe and’ break 
rope cables. The schooner Vega fished on this bank, to the south of 
Simeonofski Island, in 1913 and 1914, and was compelled to use a 
couple of shots of chain next to the anchor in the latter year, having 
lost an anchor the previous year because a rope cable was employed. 
Owing to this danger and the strong tides, few vessels have ever 
made a practice of fishing on this bank, although the fish rank in 
quality next to those caught on the Sannak Bank. 
The area between the Shumagin Islands and Kodiak is very im- 
perfectly known, largely because the fishing vessels do not frequent 
it, preferring to visit the better-known banks. The Albatross (1m 
1888) ran a single series of soundings across this wide area, with a 
double line extending from the neighborhood of Lighthouse Kocis 
