48 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
mollusk. Although clams are abundant in Alaska, the fishermen 
rarely ever bother to dig them for bait. 
SEASON, METHODS, ETC. 
The vessels generally leave their home ports between the middle 
of March and the middle of April, and arrive in the neighborhood of 
the Shumagin Islands, in the North Pacific, in from two to three 
weeks after sailing. The Shumagin Islands are approximately 1,553 
nautical miles from Seattle and approximately 1,903 nautical miles 
from San Francisco. 
As there is floating ice on the cod banks in Bering Sea at this time, 
most of the vessels fish off the southern side of Unimak Island. The 
early part of May some of the vessels move over to the southeast 
point of Sannak Island and spend the greater part of the season on 
the Sannak Bank, but the majority of them go into Bering Sea, 
where fishing is usually begun in Dublin Bay and on Slime Bank. 
Toward the latter part of June the Bering Sea fleet begins to work 
north onto Baird Bank, moving along by Port Moller and up as far 
as the mouth of the Ugashik River and occasionally, but not often, 
up into Bristol Bay proper. 
The vessels which fish exclusively in the North Pacific Ocean 
sometimes spend the early part of the season on Shumagin Bank, 
working later on the Sannak Bank. A few start fishing at Cape 
Pankof, off the southern side of Unimak Island, as stated above, and 
work thence onto Sannak Bank, where they finish the season. 
One great advantage the Pacific fisherman has over his Atlantic 
brother is that he does not lose any time because of enemies of the 
cod driving them off the banks, as is the case in the East, where 
vessels are sometimes tied up for weeks on account of dogfish. 
While the dogfish is to be found in Alaska waters, it is not in 
sufficient abundance to become a pest. 
All Pacific codfishing is done in the daytime. Owing to the high 
latitude of the banks and the fact that the vessel fishing season is 
the summer time, when the hours of daylight are most numerous, the 
hours of darkness rarely exceed four and are even less during June 
and July. 
Early in the morning the dories are put over the sides of the 
vessel, which has been anchored in a favorable spot. Each dory is 
equipped with the necessary fishing lines, a small sail, a water 
beaker, a windlass for hauling in the anchor, a 10 or 14 pound 
anchor, a small keg buoy, a knife for cutting bait and bleeding the 
fish, a gaff for handling the large fish and with which most of the 
fishermen stun or kill the fish by striking it on the head with the 
handle. 
