The Alaska daily empire., 1915-01-01
- The Fisheries of Alaska
i -(B By CL. AndreOs) ---=

gallons of oil valued at Sl2,O72.OO.
The whole of the results Of the whal-
ing from the shore stations was over
s157 900 90 and 80 men were EN-
ployed in the trade.
All the early voyagers along the
Alaskan coast remarked the great
abundance of fish in the waters and
entered it in their records. The ma
tives lived on them almost exclusive
ly and had many ways of procuring
them, from traps and spears to hooks
of ingenious construction. Every one
in Alaska is familiar with the rather
unwieldy looking halibut hook ollered
for sale by the natives, but this same
hook is most effective in capturing
the immense white meated fish that
lies close to the bottom of the inland
passages of the Southeast coast. Inc
chief reliance of the Aleutes was the
store of dried salmon that they pre-
pared for winter and called ukaH. Inc
herring was taken with sharp spikes
or nails in a strip of wood with when
the native combed the water wheh
the school was running, and the her
ring eggs were delicacy esteemed
by them as greatly as do the Europ-
cans the caviar of commerce. The
herring eggs were gathered by placing
hemlock boughs in the water When
the school OF fish was lying IN the
inlets depositing the spawn the
boughs would be covered with the
ova, the boughs then taken out ana
the eggs stripped off to be preserved
for future use. The eulachon, 1urn-
ished the Chilkats with an OIL that
was substitute for butter. This llsh
is so oily that when dry it burns ike
piece of pitch pine. The Indians
catch them in great quantities anu
after allowing them to partially decay
in large watts. extract the oil and use
it for food. So in different ways
has the finny inhabitant of the water
afforded means of sustaining life
for the native inhabitant since the
beginning.
The Russians made use OF the fish
for local purposes but they did not
attempt to make a commercial use of
the treasure. They procured most OF
their supplies from traps or barri-
cades which they called ZapOrs. These
consisted OF distractions placed
across the stream to prevent the fish
ascending and at one side an opening
allowed them to enter an enclosure
but did not allow their escape. 1t was
a forerunner of the modern fish trap
but was placed in the streams and
prevented that fish reaching their
spawning grounds. The stream at
Karluk was the great source OF supply
for the Kodiak Island settlement
from the inception of the colony in
1888. At Sitka they procured their
salmon mainly from the Redoubt Lake
Zapor about ten or twelve miles
southwest of the town. From 1905
until the close of Russian occupation
of the territory their supply was
drawn regularly from this source.
The fisheries of the north were urg-
ed as potent reason for the purchase
of Alaska from the Russians. Even
in Russian days there were some YES
sells which sailed from San Francisco
to the banks off the Aleutian Islands
for cod, and some of them went as
far as the Sea of Okhotsk. Although
this was considered as an asset it was
not realized upon for many years and
is not yet being utilized as would be
justified by its value.
Across the Atlantic over 800 years |
ago came vessels from BlScdy anu
from Brittany to fish for cod on the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland and
over this same fishery has many a
quarrel arisen between Bluenose and
Yankee. Here in the north Pacific
are 1000 square miles of cod banks
practically untouched while Canada
makes fuss over the Gloucester fish
ermen cutting bait on her shores and
in turn tries to appropriate the halibut
fishing trade of the Alaskan coast.
From Seattle and San Francisco dur
ing 1913, nineteen vessels sailed for
The cod banks and secured full fares,
while the shore stations on the Aleu-