THE COD FISHERY OF ALASKA. 



217 



The Shumagins fleet is made up of schooners, and these frequently of small tonnage, while the 

 Okhotsk vessels are large schooners, barks, and barkeutiues. Fishing about the Sbumagins is 

 done in the narrow passages, and harbors are to be made through these straits ; for this reason 

 small fore-and-aft schooners are employed in preference to large vessels, and for this reason alone, 

 it seems to me, the large craft go to the Okhotsk in spite of the established fact that the fish 

 secured there are not so plump and tender as the Shumagins fish when fresh and are vastly inferior 

 by reason of the treatment they receive on the vessels after being salted. Again, the round trip 

 to the Okhotsk involves two months of time and 2,000 miles in distance more than the trip to the 

 Shumagius. The Okhotsk fisherman is cut off fromTresh provisions and good harbors; he rides 

 out storms "hove to" or trusting to his anchors, and, in the end, brings back cod which ought not 

 to command as high a price as the Shumagin fish. .Why should vessels go to the Okhotsk at all? 

 If the Shumagiu cod are superior, which is admitted ; if bait, provisions, fuel, and good harbors 

 are present, and fish are plentiful, what is the motive for going farther? Small fore-and-aft 

 schooners are required for the island fishing, and the larger vessels, if they fish at all, must hunt 

 sea room. Is it because some men have formed the habit of going to the Okhotsk and simply 

 keep 011 going from force of habit ? There are certainly more than enough fish about the Shuma- 

 gins to supply the wants of the San Francisco dealers for years to come. The fishermen agree 

 that if the demand were larger plenty of fish could be found. Even with the large demand in 

 Gloucester and Boston the famous George's Bank did not become a great resort until iu 1850; 

 and at the Shumagius we have fine fish and favorable conditions for their capture and preservation, 

 so that w^ien the call comes for increased and accessible supplies we shall find the industry active 

 there. 



4. THE VESSELS AND THE FISHERMEN. 



THE FISHING FLEET. The following tables show the name of each vessel, the rig, tonnage, 

 and other details of the Pacific Ocean codfish fleet for the years 1878, 1879, and 1880 : 



San Francisco codfish fleet of 1878. 



* A tender for the fishing-station at the Shumagins. 

 t Brought fish caught by others. 

 } Qnit. the business in 1K79. 



Lost. 



|| Wrecked at Wilmington, Cal., winter 1879. 



