74 ALASKA. 



The fish used for the manufacture of oil is the herring, which is 

 very abundant, very rich in oil, and finely flavored. It is much 

 used as a food-fish and also as bait in taking halibut and other 

 large fish. It is caught by the natives for their own use with a 

 stick, toward the end oi which are inserted several sharpened 

 spikes. They dip the stick in the water, catch one or more herring, 

 and with one motion land the fish in the canoe, and thrust the 

 stick in the water again. In this way, they take immense quanti- 

 ties in a short time. These fish appear in the still waters of bays 

 and inlets by the million, at different places, and at different seasons 

 of the year, from August to February. 



OTHER FISH. 



Halibut aboimds throughout central, southern, and western 

 Alaska, and can be taken at any time during the year. They vary 

 in siy.e from 15 to 250 pounds each; those weighing from 50 to 



75 pounds being preferred. It is not uncommon, says Governor 

 Knapp, of Alaska, for Sitka Indians to visit .Silver Bay or the 

 vicinity of Mount Edgecombe and return the following day with 

 nearly a ton of these fish. Whitefish, losh, and graylings are found 

 in large quantities in the Yukon, and afford more food for the natives 

 than the salmon. Black bass are abundant in southeastern 

 Alaska, and trout and pike inhabit almost all the rivers. 



The following tables, showing the extent of the fisheries of the 

 Territory, are taken from the report of the United States Com- 

 missioner of Fish and l^isheries, tor 1893: 



Vessels and outfit. 



Boats 



Apparatus : 



Seines 



Gill nets 



Pound nets. . . 



Lines 



Guns 



Shore property . . . 

 Cash capital 



Total 



Value. 



$494. 400 



63.575 



27, 025 



28, 750 



13, 200 



4.050 



503 



720, 650 



1, 257,500 



2, 609, 650 



