ALASKA. 73 



CODFISH. 



The next important fishing industry in Alaska is the codfish 

 business, carried on by two San Francisco firms at the Shumagin 

 Ishmds, and in the Bering Sea. The catch of 1890 amounted to 

 a total of 1,138,000 fish, of the value of $569,000. Since the 

 beginning ot the codfishing business in this Territory in 1865, 

 the total number of fish taken is 25,723,300, of the value of 

 $12,861,650. The first four years, the business did not come near 

 to its present proportions. 



A hasty survey has given an idea of the extent of the banks, 

 but there is much yet to be done to properly define their limits 

 and determine their character. Portlock Bank, extending north- 

 easterly from Kadiak, has an immense area; Shumagin Bank, 

 south ot the .Shumagin group ot islands, has an area of about 

 4,400 square miles; Albatross Bank, off the southeastern side of 

 Kadiak, has an area of 2,900 square miles; Slime Bank, north 

 of Unimak Island, in Bering Sea, covers an area ot 1,445 square 

 miles, embracing depths trom 20 to 50 fathoms; Baird Bank 

 stretches along the north coast ot Alaska Peninsula 230 miles, 

 with an average width ot 40 miles, covering an area of 9,200 

 square miles. The depths range trom 15 to 50 fathoms, with a 

 bottom ot fine gray sand. 



HERRING. 



The business of the Alaska Oil and Guano Company, at Kil- 

 lisnoo, Carl .Spuhn, president and manager, gives employment to 

 45 white men, 50 Indians, and a tew Chinamen. Their principal 

 business is fishing and the manufacture ot oil antl fish tertiUzer, 

 though they also have a trading post. Their capital stock is 

 $75,000. They have a fishing fleet of 3 steamers, 4 scows, and 

 2 small boats. The product ot their fictory in 1891 was larger 

 than in 1 890, being 300,000 gallons ot oil instead ot 157,000 

 reported the previous year. They also put up 700 barrels of salt 

 salmon and manufactured 800 tons of guano. The value of the 

 product was not less than $1 14,000. The oil is worth about 30 

 cents per gallon and the guano about $30 per ton. 



