72 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
MARKET FOR PACIFIC COD. 
The development of the demand for Pacific cod has been one of 
slow growth against great obstacles. In the early days of the in- 
dustry all of the catch was marketed on the coast, and as salt fish was 
scarce and in good demand, fairly good prices were obtained for 
an article which, in many instances, was only indifferently cured. 
The success of the pioneers led to a rapid expansion of the industry, 
with the result that the local market was soon overstocked and the 
curers had to look to the Middle Western and Eastern States and 
abroad for a market for the surplus. 
At this period the eastern curers, and the large wholesale salt fish 
houses scattered throughout the country who purchased their sup- 
plies from them, controlled the markets for cod throughout the 
United States, while all of the cod exported from this country went 
from New England. Naturally these curers, and the wholesalers 
dependent upon them, did not welcome the intrusion of Pacific cod, 
and while they were unable to prevent the loss of the greater part 
of their trade on the Pacific coast, they fought hard for the rest. 
Dealers and consumers were told in some instances that the fish pre- 
pared by this coast’s curers were not cod, or that they were a very 
inferior grade of cod; that the fish would not keep, ete. That these 
misstatements had a wide dissemination and made a considerable 
impression is evidenced even to this day in the prejudice which is 
met with in different sections of the country against Pacific cod. 
Unfortunately, the Pacific coast producers, through ignorance, 
played right into the hands of their trade enemies when first invad- 
ing the territory hitherto held by them alone. Some of the fish were 
poorly prepared and part of them were shipped across the continent 
during a season when the weather was warm, and as they had been 
stowed in ordinary box cars, the temperature of these corresponded to 
the weather, so that the fish arrived in the eastern market in very poor 
condition, thus disgusting the few dealers who had been willing to 
give them a trial. The shippers quickly discovered their error, and 
ifterwards restricted shipments for long distances to the colder 
months of the year and also used refrigerator cars. The damage had 
been done, however, and from then on it was slow and discouraging 
uphill work extending the market for Pacific cod east of the Rocky 
Mountains. 
The fight of the Pacific cod for admission into eastern markets is a 
typical example of how difficult it is to overcome a prejudice, no 
matter how insufficiently founded. 
On the Pacific coast but one species of the Gadide, the true cod, or 
Gadus macrocephalus, is to be found of a sufficient size for dry- 
salting, and, as a result, is the only species sold in any condition 
other than fresh. At the very time the dealers were refusing Pacific 
