216 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



The permanent fishing station on Popoff Island was established in 1876 at Pirate Cove by T. 

 W. McCollam & Co. There are eight men engaged at the fishery, one of whom, Mr. Thomas 

 Dcviue, is in charge. Fishing is continued all the year, except when interrupted by severe weather. 

 When not fishing the men do nothing. Twelve dories are owned at the station. Both hand-lines 

 and trawls are used. The men furnish their own gear, but receive their boarding, house, and fuel 

 free. They are paid $27.50 per thousand for the cod, which must not be less than 26 inches long. 

 The greatest distance from shore at which they fish is on Henderson's Island grounds, 4 miles 

 away. Besides the cod they catch plenty of halibut (Hippoglossus vulgaris), "cusk" (Bathymaster 

 signatus), pollock or silver hake (Pollachius ohaloofframmus), "greenfish" (Hcxagrammm), yellow- 

 fish or striped fish (Pleurogrammus monopterygiua}, "Irish lords" (Coitus polyacanthocephalus), com- 

 mon sculpius (Hemilepidotus Jordani), "Frenchmen" (Hemilepidotus trachurus), and arrow-toothed 

 flounder (Atlierestlies stomias). The average daily catch of cod per man with hand-line or trawl is 

 about 100, and the catch for the year 20,000. The fish ate dressed on shore by the men after their 

 day's catch is landed. The small fish are then pickled and the large ones kenched. Mr. Devine 

 uses about a ton of Carmen Island salt to l,0(iO fish, and puts as many into a kench as he can get 

 in to save room. The cod here, according to Mr. Devine, seem to be more watery than the eastern, 

 some of them losing two-thirds in curing. I have observed the same thing occasionally, but the 

 fish were always small shore-fish. Individuals differ in this respect just as they do in the consist- 

 ency of their flesh. Mr. Devine notes a great difference in the ease of splitting fish, young school 

 fish being readily split, while some others are hard and tough. Besides the men who fish from the 

 station there is a schooner of 20 tons, the Unga, which carries five men, whose catch is brought to 

 Pirate Cove. The men are all foreigners. They catch their fish in Nagai Strait, Coal Harbor 

 Strait, Sanborn Harbor, Stepovakho Bay, and at the Pinnacle. They use hand lines and trawls. 

 The gear of the Unga cost $362 in 1879. For bait they use halibut, sculping, and cuttle-fish 

 ( Octopus punctatus, Gabb). Their season lasts from April to October, the catch averaging 35,000 

 fish, which are salted in bulk and then resalted at the station. The crew of the Unga receive $30 

 per thousand for their cod and the captain $35. They furnish their own gear. The salt used at 

 the station costs $16 per ton there. The cost of bait is nothing. Besides the fish mentioned there 

 is an abundance of fine clams. The sounds of the cod brought to Pirate Cove are said to be thin 

 and tough. The heads are thrown away. Mr. Devine has a fine lot of pigs and chickens. While 

 there is no lack of substantial fare at the station, the variety of the menu is enriched by the intro- 

 duction of an entre called " Scotch dumplings," made by filling with chopped cod-livers and corn 

 meal the pokes or stomachs of cod, which are then tied up and boiled. Mr. Devine told me that 

 natives from Koroviu Island come over to a cove near Pirate Cove to fish for salmon. In 1877 

 they brought to Pirate Cove a silver salmon (Oncorhynchus chouiclia) 5 feet long. The largest cod 

 taken by his men would probably have weighed 50 pounds. Halibut have been known to reach 

 300 pounds there. 



The fishermen of Saint Paul, Kodiak, use No. 12 Shanghai hooks. Their boat-anchors weigh 

 13 pounds ; the leads, for hand-lines, 5 pounds. The cost of bait is nothing ; halibut, squid, and 

 salmon, caught easily in the vicinity, being used. Six hundred fish in a day would be considered 

 a large catch for one man now, 200 being the average. All the fishing for cod is done within easy 

 reach of the shore or from the beach itself. The buyers of the fish furnish the lines and other 

 gear and pay $20 per 1,000 for them dressed. 



I have elsewhere given a table showing the number of vessels engaged in the Pacific cod 

 fishery from 1865 to 1880, from which it will be seen that the fleet was at its minimum in 1872 

 when only five vessels were employed, and largest in 1870 in which year twenty-one were engaged. 



