FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS OF THE STEAMER ALBATROSS. 
133 
1890, the observations being carried by that vessel to 58° 43' IN. latitude, or about 168 
miles northwesterly from St. Paul Island of the Pribilof group. From this point, in 
144 fathoms, a line of soundings was run southward in the direction of Atka Island, 
developing a least depth of 977 fathoms and a maximum depth of 2,147 fathoms. 
A second line, farther to the eastward, extending from latitude 56° 12 ; N., longitude 
172° 07' W., toward Uliaga Island, immediately to the west of Umnak Island, shows 
depths of 1,033 to 1,818 fathoms. Additional deep-sea soundings were made by the 
Albatross to the north of Unalaska Island, and several dredging stations were also 
occupied in depths between 100 and 1,625 fathoms. In the deeper waters the 
bottom was composed principally of green ooze, the absence of foraminifera, according 
to Capt. Tanner, being a marked feature of this region. 
The location of the Pribilof Islands near the outer edge of this platform, with the 
interesting problems respecting the habits of the fur seals suggested by the contro- 
versy now in progress, makes it very important that the physical and biological features 
of the surrounding area should be thoroughly studied ; but, although some progress 
in this direction has already been made, it is not intended to touch upon the subject 
in this connection, the remarks which follow having reference chiefly to the fishing- 
grounds for cod and halibut. 
The fishing-banks investigated by the Albatross in 1890 are mostly situated to the 
eastward of a line connecting Cape NT ewenham with the northwest cape of Unimak 
and off the northern side of Unalaska Island, no extensive cod banks having yet been 
recorded from outside of these limits in the eastern part of Bering Sea. Capt. Tanner 
has extended the application of the name Bristol Bay so as to cover all of that region 
first defined above, but, as generally accepted by geographers, it is restricted to the 
much smaller area bounded on the north, east, and south by the mainland of Alaska, 
and not extending farther westward than an imaginary line drawn from Cape Ue wen- 
ham to Cape Seniavin on the peninsula, or to thfe neighborhood of Port Moller. 
In the region occupied by these fishing-grounds the depths seldom exceed 50 
fathoms, and the bottom is, for the most part, quite uniform in character, consisting 
mainly of fine sand, occasionally of coarse sand, and often having an admixture of 
gravel or pebbles. Cod were found to be quite generally distributed over this area, 
but the examinations were not sufficiently complete to define the outlines of the indi- 
vidual grounds in all particulars. Three separate banks have been recognized by 
Capt. Tanner— Slime Bank and Baird Bank, skirting the northern side of Unimak 
Island and the Alaska Peninsula, and Kulukak ground in the northern part of Bristol 
Bay; but from the information now at hand it can not be affirmed that these banks 
are entirely distinct and separate from one another. Slime Bank begins at the northern 
entrance to Unimak Pass. Its western end is more or less defined by the adjacent 
deep water which occurs in that locality, and its northern margin is limited to some 
extent by a muddy bottom. The somewhat barren ground which surrounds Amak 
Island also serves to break its continuity with Baird Bank, which, however, possesses 
the same character of bottom, and may be connected with it to the north of Amak 
Island. The latter bank extends northward as far as Cape Chichagof, and while the 
practical fishing operations which have been conducted upon it have been chiefly 
limited to within a comparatively short distance of the land, it is apparently connected 
with the Kulukak ground off the Walrus Islands, the intermediate bottom not differing 
essentially in its characteristics and being rich in cod. 
