206 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
same schools. The movements of the schools are affected by the presence or absence of food and 
by the state of the tide, the fish taking the hook more readily at slackwater. 
Mr. Devine, speaking about the Shamagin cod, told me on the 19th of July, 1880, that they 
found the fish both in schools and independent. , They were “picking fish” at the time, and there 
had been “no great flush” of school fish this year. Different schools are found at different 
seasons and in different places, just as about Kodiak. Mr. Devine says that males, females, and 
young are not found associated in his vicinity. The males go together at certain times, and the 
females are associated. At the spawning-season there are more females than males. The move- 
ments of the schools are very much affected by sharks, and, to some extent, by dogfish. Dogfish 
are not abundant, but sharks are especially plentiful. The dogfish is identical with our Atlantic 
spined dogfish (Squalus acanthias). We did not get a specimen of the shark, but the National 
Museum has a coup!e of small ones from Sitka, which are very close to, if not identical with, the 
“tope” (Galeorhinus galeus). As for the influence of the tides, Mr. Devine says that fishing is 
best during the spring tides and poorest in slack tides. 
Sometimes the cod have such a superabundance of food that they refuse to take the hook. 
This is, perhaps, of rare occurrence; generally it seems that the more a cod has in its stomach 
the more eagerly it bites, especially if the bait be something different from that previously eaten. 
One would suppose that a 12-pound cod, after eating forty capelin, would not take herring bait, and 
yet we had an illustration of that on Portlock Bank. 
My own observations at various points along the Alaskan coast seemed to indicate that young 
cod from 2 to 4 inches in length prefer to school near the shores, in sheltered coves, where the 
water is shallow, and often where it receives a large admixture of fresh water. AtTliuliuk I found 
myriads of such young fish playing about the wharves, eagerly seizing the hooks baited for larger 
prey. Occasionally a larger cod, of about 16 or 18 inches in length, would be caught in the same 
vicinity, but almost invariably we found the small fry unmixed with older fish. 
The supply of food forms a very important motive for the presence of cod in particular places 
at certain times. When we were in Port Chatham, for example, capelin were schooling there 
abundantly, and we caught fine cod freely. On Portlock Bank again capelin were plentiful, and 
nearly every cod examined had its stomach filled with them. At the Shumagins “ England hake,” 
or, more properly, pollock (Pollachius chalcogrammus), were abundant in July, and the cod were there 
feasting on them. The “ yellow-fish” (Pleurogrammus monopterygius) is one of the finest of all baits 
for cod and will play an important part in the future history of the fishery. This yellow-fish is 
said by Capt. Andrew Anderson to be very abundant about thé middle of August on the off-shore 
bank, 20 miles east-northeast of Seminoffsky Island, where it is found schooling like the mackerel, 
and will follow the bait up to the surface of the water. It is to be noted that August and Sep- 
tember are the best months for cod on this bank. The herring (Clupea mirabilis) also has a great 
deal to do with a prosperous cod fishery. Capt. J. Haley told me that herring are wonderfully 
plentiful on the Hoochenoo Bank at the fishing-season and that there are enormous quantities of 
fine herring in Prince I'rederick Sound, which serve to attract a great abundance of small cod 
thither. The vast shoals of herring which are found in various parts of the Gulf of Alaska are 
generally accompanied by hordes of cod. Elsewhere in this paper I have recorded the statement 
of Captain Bowen concerning the magnitude of a herring shoal seen by him; this will give a good 
idea of the amount of sustenance awaiting the pleasure of the cod around Kodiak. The same 
numbers are known to be present in many localities, and’ wherever found their influence on the 
prosperity of the fishery must be recegnized. ‘ 
ABUNDANCE.—Before entering into an examination of the influence of modes of fishing and 
