10 



California War Papers. 



industry on this coast. For many years 

 it was carried on solely in Washington 

 and Oregon. Some few years ago, in my 

 annual reports to the U. S. Bureau, of 

 Fisheries on the "Fisheries of Alaska," I 

 called repeated attention to the fact that 

 I had personally found clams in nearly 

 every section of Alaska outside of the 

 Arctic, and that it was credibly reported 

 that there were large beds along the Arc- 

 tic coast, and that some day they would 

 prove a source of wealth to the territory, 

 and especially recommended the canning 

 of them. The razor clam (Machcera 

 patula) was especially abundant in south- 

 east and central Alaska, while the inud 

 clam (propably Panopea generosa) was 

 to be found in the same regions. These 

 statements met the eyes of some of the 

 coast canners, who were finding difficulty 

 in securing sufficient raw material 

 nearby, with the result that one of them 

 opened a plant at Cordova in 1915. 

 This plant met with such success that at 

 present there are four or five now oper- 

 ating in that vicinity, and these had a 

 combined pack of 6,43(J cases in 1916, 

 and it would not surprise me to see the 

 number of plants quadrupled in a few 

 years as the location of other beds 

 becomes better known. 



COCKLES Beds of cockles, sometimes 

 called scallops in Alaska, are known to 

 exist in Funter Bay, on Admiralty 

 Island, and in Dry Strait, near W range! , 

 in southeast Alaska, and would probably 

 be found in many other places if syste- 

 matic search were made. They are eaten 

 but not sold. The basket cockle (Car- 

 ditim corbis) is common on this coast and 

 can be seen at times in the markets of the 

 Northwest, but so far the supply has 

 been greater than the demand. 



SCALLOPS Several species are found 

 on the Pacific coast, all of which are 

 edible, although but few find their way 

 to the markets. An odd feature in con- 

 nection with this animal is that we eat 

 only the adductor muscle, a white and 

 tender morsel. The soft flesh of the body 

 is thrown away. Many of the shells are 

 made into souvenirs and sold in curio 

 stores. Unlike most of the other bivalves, 

 the scallop is able to move from place to 

 place, and sometimes makes quite long 

 journeys. In 1914 the U. S. Fisheries 

 Steamer Albatross discovered a bed of 

 scallops off the Oregon coast, and it is 

 probable many other beds will be dis- 

 covered when a systematic search is made. 



DONAX On our southern California 

 coast is found Donax levigata, a short 

 and stumpy molliisk, cut nearly off at 



one end, and tapering to a rounded point 

 at the other, and less than an inch in 

 length. In color the shells vary from 

 white to purple, and are often beautifully 

 striped. It lives just under the surface 

 of the sand. A very similar Atlantic 

 species is thrown alive in millions upon 

 the Florida beaches in March and April, 

 and it is probable that the same phenome- 

 non occurs on this coast at about the 

 same time. Some twenty years ago a 

 few were canned in southern California. 

 They make an excellent soup, the mol- 

 lusks shells and all being thrown into 

 a pot of boiling water, from which the 

 shells are later removed and thrown 

 away. The soup so made is canned by 

 one of the Florida operators. 



CEPHALOPODS The most abundant 

 species of the Cephalopods on the Pacific 

 coast is the Octopus (Polypus hongkong- 

 ensis), which varies from small specimens 

 found in shoal water to very large ones 

 found in the deep sea. A limited fishery 

 is carried on for them on Puget Sound 

 and along the California coast, the result- 

 ing catch being disposed of to the orientals 

 living on the coast. Frequently they are 

 sun-dried, no salt being used, and in this 

 condition will keep for some time. They 

 are used almost exclusively in the manu- 

 facture of an extremely nourishing soup. 



SQUID The common squid of the Cali- 

 fornia coast is Loligo opalcscens. At one 

 time there was a very important Chinese 

 fishery for these animals, but overfishing 

 almost killed it. The fishery is also 

 prosecuted in Puget Sound to a small 

 extent, and many of the mollusks are 

 sold in the sound markets, generally under 

 the name of "inkfish." There is room 

 for a considerable expansion of the fishery 

 in the Northwest. They are generally 

 utilized in the same way as octopi. 



CHITONS -There are a number of species 

 of chitons found on this coast, and they are 

 odd looking mollusks. The shell consists 

 of eight parts instead of a single shield. 

 These parts, or valves, run across the 

 body and overlap one another, like shin- 

 gles on a roof. They are highest in the 

 center, and end in a leathern mantle 

 which runs around the body, and which is 

 highly contractile. They are sluggish 

 creatures, and live in cracks and crannies 

 of the rock or else under stones. They 

 vary in length from half an inch to one 

 species which attains a length of nearly 

 a foot. 



Most of them are edible, this being 

 especially true of the Black Chiton 

 (Katherina tunicata), which the writer 

 has gathered and eaten in Alaska. In 



