THE FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1906. 61 



erel, whence its name. It occurs in great abundance, and is usually 

 found in kelp beds in 3 to 40 fathoms in the spring and early summer, 

 returning to deeper water later. It is generall}^ near the bottom, but 

 can easily be tolled to the surface. In weight the fish averages about 

 2 J pounds, while its average length is about 18 inches. The Attu 

 natives generally use a gig to catch it, or rather a long pole, along the 

 length of which are fastened several hooks. Tliis they push down 

 in the water, then give it a quick, upward jerk, and often catch more 

 than one fish at a time. Purse seines would undoubtedly prove a 

 very effective means of capture. During the early days of the gold 

 excitement most of the steamers engaged in the carrying trade to 

 St. Michael and Nome stopped at Dutch Harbor for coal going and 

 commg, and the Attu natives would put up and sell to these steamers 

 a small quantity of the fish each year. As but few vessels call at 

 Dutch Harbor now, however, this trade has ceased, and the fish is 

 practically unused except for local consumption, but there is no doubt 

 that some day it will occupy an important position in the fish exports 

 of Alaska. 



Blackflsh (Dallia pedoralis) . — This species, which is peculiar to the 

 Kuskokwim and Yukon deltas, does not exceed 5 or 6 inches in length, 

 and is one of the most nutritious and toothsome fishes found m Alas- 

 kan waters. According to Petroff, it is found in all the shallow chan- 

 nels and lagoons of this region and constitutes the cliief subsistence 

 of the natives during the winter months. It is so abundant that 

 only old men, boys, and women engage in the catching of it. It is 

 exceedingly fat, and a good quantity of pellucid oil is obtained fi-om 

 it by a very primitive process. Huge drift logs are fashioned into 

 troughs, wliich are then filled with water and a c^uantity of the fish. 

 "A large number of smooth cobblestones are thi-own into a fire until 

 they are thoroughly heated, when they are picked up with sticks 

 fashioned for the purpose and deposited hi the water, which boils up 

 at once. After a few minutes these stones must be removed and 

 replaced by fresh ones, tliis laborious process being continued until 

 the oil has been boiled out * * * and floats on the surface, when 

 it is removed with flat pieces of bone or roughly fashioned ladles and 

 decanted into bladders or whole sealskins." 



Boreogadiis saida. — This, according to the Report of the Interna- 

 tional Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska (1885), is quite a 

 plentiful fish in the neighborhood of Point Barrow at most seasons 

 of the year, and forms an important item in the food supply of the 

 natives. During tlie 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 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, roughly 



