ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1549 



SABLEFISH, fANOPLOPOMA- FIMBRIA) 

 Taken on the U, S. Fisheries Steamship Albatross. Photographed by C. H. Townsend. 



THE SABLEFISH 



A New Name on the Bill of Fare 

 By C. H. Townsend 



COMMENCING with the exploitation of the 

 tilefish in 1915, the Bureau of Fisheries 

 has continued to render an important 

 service to the country in making known the 

 good qualities of several fishes that have long 

 been overlooked in the fishing industry. 



The list includes the tilefish, grayfish, burbot 

 and sablefish. The last being a Pacific Coast 

 species, is not yet well known in eastern mar- 

 kets ; but it has commenced to figure in official 

 statistics of the fisheries. 



During the six months ending June 30, 1917, 

 there were landed at Seattle, Washington, 

 1,033,980 pounds of sablefish valued at $39,- 

 697. This is making remarkably good progress, 

 considering that the campaign to popularize 

 the consumption of sablefish was inaugurated in 

 January. 



Readers of the Bulletin will be interested 

 in seeing what this fish looks like. Its cod-like 

 appearance is well shown in the accompanying 

 photograph made by the writer on board the 

 U. S. Fisheries Steamship Albatross in 1891 

 when attached to that vessel in the investiga- 

 tion of our northwest coast fisheries. 



The thirteen fishes shown had an average 

 weight of twelve and one-half pounds — the 

 largest weighing twent3^-eight pounds and hav- 

 ing a length of fifty-one inches. They were 

 taken on trawl lines set in the Straits of Fuca, 

 at a depth of 125 fathoms. We met with sable- 

 fish at many points between Oregon and the 

 Alaska Peninsula, and a few specimens have 

 been taken as far south as Southern California. 

 It has been taken by fishing vessels west of 

 Queen Charlotte Island in 250 fathoms of 

 water, which is rather deeper than American 

 fishermen care to operate, although the Japan- 

 ese fish habitually in even greater depths. 



