Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-12
THE FISH OF ALASKA.
EyORMOUs SALMON THAT FCRNIsI
FooD FOR NATIVES.
A Fish re to Eat or Burn-Wntcrs
of the Northern Pacific Fairly
ALIVE with Edible Fish-Iiow the
Natives Bunt the White Whale.

a
ichthyoloasts in the employ Of the gov
eminent. has Just returned from his Sc
cond visit for studying the fish In Alas
kan waters. He will depart In few
DAYS for a short work Of investigation
among the pearl fisheries at La Paz.
Lower California. after which he will go
on to Washington. He said to-day, In
Los Angeles:
81 have never observed more inter-
esting fish than the candleish OF Alas.a.
7 don't believe it can be transplanted to
o,ir national waters. For the variety
of its use, there's no fish Ike 1t. 1t is
about the size OF the common smelt'
and averages ten inches in length. II
runs in vast schools along the coast OF
Alaska. There is no better pan fish.
and IT Is as fat as possible. In fact.
they are SO fat that the natives use
them dried for candles. fixing them IN
forked sticks and lighting one end Their
fat the Eskimos also fry out for butter.
and as a substitute 1T is not so bad as
YOU might suppose. Prepared IN the shape
of oil IL serves as n substitute for that
obtained from cod livers, and great guam
titles are sold by apOthecarles now IN
this form.
"Of course, the great fish wealth or
Alaska lies in the abundance OF salmon.
The biggest variety. called the king sal
mon. is gigantic. growing from sixty TO
ninety pounds in weight. 1t leaves the
ocean about June OF each year, for the
purpose OF spawning, going 200 miles
| ri
salmon for winter use, cutting them into
three slices after removing the heads.
and leaving tho backbones in the mid
die slice so that all three slices are
connected by the tail. Thus prepared,
the fish are called 'chowichee ukalt' ana
two or three of them dried weigh at
least fcty pounds. one is considered a
sufficient food supply for one day for six
men and the dogs that haul their sledges.
Bought from the natives on the great
Yukon river, a single ukali Is valued AZ
one leaf Of tobacco. or five or six mus
ket balls. The chOwichee Of the Yukon
is held i'm such high esteem that the Rus
slams used to salt down several hogs
heads Of 1t annually for tho Cars table
when Russia owned Alaska.
A NATION or FISHERMEN.
'Tn Alaska every native Is fisher
man. because almost the entire popula-
ton depend upon the resources Of the
water for food The men spear and net
and trap the salmon, while the women
do what they can do TO help, dragging
great strings Of the captured fish along
the waters edge. and watching the gill
nets in readiness to seize and club to
death the scaly victims that get en-
tangled. The work OF curing and dress
ing the FISH falls naturally 10 the lot
OF the women. The usual supply OF SAL
mon put up by family Of four Is l.-O
fish. averaging five pound' each before
they arc cured ana half pound each
when dried. The stores accumulated In
the warm season are not touched until
the inciemency Of the weather about
November LIST, renders fishing no long
or practicable. As a rule, by May lst,
when fishing can again be resumed, the
reserve supplies have been exhausted,
and starvation threatens. Each family,
In addition TO its dried stock, puts up
for the winter half a barrel or so OF
dried salmon roc.
GAMER THAN THE TARPON.
1.-THE ocean waters along the coast OF
Alaska contain as wide variety OF game
saltwater fish as the Gulf OF Mexico, and
that Is saying a good deal. They catch
pearly and greensh-hUed FISH or the Alas
kan coast that resembles the famous tar
pom fin for lin, size and shape. lt Is u
wonderful game fish, and VIII give the
most expert angler the liVeliest tussle nc
ever had IN landing one. IL Is called the
pearl belly" from it's beautfully-coiored
scales. / brought seven OF ,hese fish
down with me on ice, and have sent them
10 Washington. rs a food fish they are
Just what you might imagine a mammoth
trout-say forty-fye-pOund spechled
trout-tO be. Why, If any OF our Ameri-
can anglers could have a successful con-
test with one Of these Alaskan pearl
bellies 1t would be an achievement OF
lifetime. Tarpon fishing is tame sport
compared with the act Of wrestling win
a pearl belly on a rod and reel or on
hand line. | found that these FISH are
caught among the Pribilof Islands, ana
that they come there from up the coast
Of Siberia in April, and depart Tor
warmer waters in September Ihey move
in great schools. An intelligent Alaskan
told me that he had seen schools OF iully
half a million Of pearl bellies IL we
could introduce these fish In our waters
il would be OF inestimable benefit TO our
people.
WATERS RICH IN FOOD FISH.
s.The Alaskan waters fairly swarm with
food fishes. of the coast there are COD
fish banks equal in proauctVeness 10
those of Newfoundland. Several Kinds oil
rock cod swim in vast numbers IN the
ocean near land. Among these IS the
palatable greennsh. so called because us
nesh is OF a grcenish color, but the ui-
usual hue disappears in cooking. In the
rivers very far north diherent varieties
flg a.
salmon. They grow 10 thirty pounds IN
weight. and are Of delicious flavor. Gray
ling are abundant also in the RAPID
streams. growing 10 fifteen pounds. These
are only a few of the valuable finny spe-
cies in this great territory that seems
designed as a paradise for the fisherman,
pike reddish. and dOgfish are mostly utl-
lied as food for the dogs
.,In such enormous schools are the com
mon berrings OF the Pacific found on the
northwest coast-most delicious and rat
they are said u be-that vessels sail Tor
hours through shoals Of them, and lazy
Indian with a stick full Of nails can i'm
male enough for boatload In short
time often II happens that acres OF
grass on shore are found covered with
herring eggs. which an unusual nigh tide
has left stranded. The natives collect
the eggs thus deposited and dry them.
'The hook for catching halibut used
nv the Alaskan Indians Is much more ef-
fective than the weapon used by white
men of New England for the same pur-
nose. 1t is a forked stick, shod with
sbarn iron AT one extremity, and baited
with a whole herring. When swallowed
n holds the mouth OF the fish open. 50
that It quickly browns. Lines provided
with these hooks are commonly set over
night. with buoys TO hold them made out
of the inflated stomachs OF seals.
HUNTING WHITE WHALES
.,rho hunting of white whales Is an i'm