, 1886-04-29
The Goldfish of Puget Sound.
TEE ABUNDANT sCFrLY. AND HOW TO cUET
THIN FOR FOOD.

,Wr.t;ea for th- AEOrST
NJ lsInssG swan, A-7'. To L. :. Fish Comm'u.
The unparalleled quantity Of the
true cod GdIUS m0croceph1tLS which
first made their appearance this sea
sSn at Port Angeles and are now So
plentiful at Port Discovery where nU
one seems to understand or care to
preserve them for food, induces me
TO give narrative OF my experience
regarding cod fish. and the best ana
proper way of curing them for food
During the summer Of 1919, l was
with my friend the late Henry a
Hedster at his home on Baadah point,
Noah Bay. This was before the In
dian agency had been established and
before any white persons, except Sam
Hancock, Capt Fowler and one OT
two other early traders among In
dianE, had ever visited the Makahs Oh
Cape F'lattery. That summer the
true cod, or as the Makahs call them
kdrdGti, were very plentiful. We
put up some wooden flakes at Baadah
point, where VIC cured about one
thousand pounds Of these cod which
were equal TO any eastern cod. We
split and salted them every day as
soon as the Indians brought them IN,
and after allowing them 10 remain il
''kench" (that Is in pile) for two
weeks, We spread them oct on the
fakes to dry. The next season We
intended to have gone more eXten
sively into the business, our first cur
ing proved so nice, that Mr.. Webster
offered bonus to the Indians to
bring the cod to US, but the fish
seemed to have left the coast, only q
few were ever caught, and finally not
one was seen. A fish somewhat re
sembling the true cod in its marking,
and by many called cod, is quite
plentiful, but is a different tish, it is
known to scientists as the OphiOdOn
slongatus, and in San Francisco is
called buffalo cod, green cod, blue
cod, etc, at Cape Flattery the In
dams call it TOOShkO,r.
The true cod GaduS has not been
aplentiful fish since 1853, although a
few have been seen in Victoria mark
cts brought in by fishermen from the
halibut banks, and occasionally one
would be seen in Port Townsend, but
their rarity made their appearance in
our market a source of comment. On
my return from Queen Charlotte Is
lands in fall of 1883, | noticed among
some young fish, brought me by one
OF our fishermen, a number of the
true cod, two to three inches long.
The next summer, 1854, these young
cod had attained a size from II TO
Is inches long, and were taken in
vast quantities all over Port Town
send bay Last year the cod had
grown to some 20 inches and were
taken in quantities but as they were
small and poor no one attempted to
cure them. This year they have in
creased in size and next year they will
be in q prime condition.
BY the experiments and observa
tions of the .. S. Fish Commission it
has been proved that it takes four
years for cod to attain its full growth
although instances have been known
where cod at younger age have de-
veloped spawn. have enquired Of
reliable persons, such as Mr.. Downs,
Nr. Pugh and others Of Port Dis
eoVery and of the fishermen and In
dians who bring the cod for sale and
they all inform me that the fish
caught have no spawn in them.
Mr. Charles Lambert one of ouI
Oldest and most experienced fisher
meR informed me that the latter part
Of December last he caught a few
full grown cod full of spawn, but the
flsh which have been, and still are, sc
abundant in Port Discovery bay, have
not attained their full growth. ]
predict that next year, the fourth
since my first observing the young
fry Of the cod, they will be in matur
i:y, and full supply may hereafter
be found in our waters. 1t is to be
remembered that the first appearance
Of cod in quantity this year was al
Port Angeles. The next place was
Port Discovery and l think in May
they will come to Port Townsend bay
snd then further up Sound.
My next paper will describe the
present method OF handling codfist
in the east and how our people car
secure a rich harvset out of these
valuable food fish.