The Lancaster Gazette

THE FISHES OF ALASKA.
FINNY TREASURES OF OUR NEW POSSESSIONS.
[Sitka Correspondence of the New York Tribune.]

THE HOME OF THE COD.
New England has hitherto had the almost exclusive control of the fishing interests of the country. Every Massachusetts man knows well that it is a source of income of no small importance. Prior to the settlement of California, the New Bedford whalemen had discovered that the waters of the Northern Pacific—and especially that the vicinity of the Aleutian or Western Islands of Alaska were the habitat—the favorite home of the genuine cod, equaling in size, flavor, and abundance the far-famed Newfoundland species of this fish. In truth, the two are so nearly identical in taste that the Nantucket sailors—the best judges—claim that they cannot be distinguished.

For several seasons there has been an increasing number of vessels of San Francisco and Vancouver visiting the coast of Ounalaska and the adjacent islands, where there is a series of banks, from 250 to 400 feet in depth, swarming with what Hawthorne calls "the sturdy, awkward fish which never deludes the angler." Their success has only been partial, for the Russians have never allowed any foreign vessels to land and cure fish on the coast. The season for drying them is from April to the middle of October. Now that the seafaring men of this coast have opened to them the needed facilities on shore for drying and packing, the business will become remunerative and stable. The market for dried fish at the East has always been certain. When developed it cannot be less so on the Pacific. Compared with mining, it affords a far more certain and trustworthy profit.

Nor are the waters abounding with the cod limited to the region of Ounalaska, seven hundred miles further west, at Attoo—the most remote of our newly purchased islands—Capt. Knetzeli, as well as all Russian authorities, reports the cod as readily caught as upon any part of the coast. The fishing ground is unlimited, and while this field of productive industry has not the excitement and rapid growth which sometimes attend the development of the mining wealth of a country, yet it is free from the ruinous reverses which so often overwhelm the latter. The wide net-work of channel, sounds, and straits which surround the Sitka or eastern groups of islands are singularly enough destitute of cod, but their absence is fully compensated for by the great abundance of salmon and halibut, of which these waters are extremely productive.

THE SALMON.
There are four distinct species of the salmon, the most numerous of which have the plumpness, small head and red flesh of the genuine "Kennebec," so much prized by the gourmands of Boston and New York. At the dam of the artificial ice-pond, at the head of Redutsky Lake, 2,000 barrels can be caught at each spring "run," although the spring is a comparatively shallow one. At the mouth of the Stickeen they are taken weighing from 30 to 50 pounds, and in all the main land and the island streams—even the smaller creeks—they are found in quantities which, if stated at the East, would at once be pronounced a "fish story." They form the staple article of food with the native tribes on this coast, who are able to take them with the rudest contrivances. Enter the huts of any Indian village, even in October when they are reputed scarce, and you will find thickly suspended overhead, long rows of red salmon in the process of drying and smoking. Last week I saw two natives return with 107 as the result of the day's work.

THE HALIBUT.
The halibut has a well-known value on the Pacific coast, and is regarded as equal, if not superior, to those found in the Atlantic markets. There is no part of the world where they are so abundant as among the waters surrounding these Islands. They can be caught at all seasons. From Chatham Straits, 60 miles above here, the Indians bring them in weighing 350 pounds. It is amusing to see with what dexterity a Kuloosh will take one of these unwieldy fellows into his canoe. A landsman would overturn his skiff in attempting to "bag" one of 50 pounds; but I have seen a native hook one of three times that weight, break its neck as it emerged from the water, and slide it as readily over the stern of his canoe as if it were a common flounder. There can be no doubt that at some future time—probably not many years—the catching and curing of halibut will become a regular business in Eastern Alaska.

THE CANDLE FISH.
I must not omit to mention the existence and peculiarities of another fish—one not mentioned in the "books"—which is found in great numbers in the coast rivers from the Nass to the Stickeen. It is spoken of as the "ooliken" by the Hudson Bay Company, but it is generally known as the "small fish," or "candle fish," among the coasters. It appears generally about the first week of May, and Mr. Ainsley, the pilot of the John L. Stephens, says that on some days he has known it difficult to row a boat across the Nass river on account of the dense mass of these fish in the water. Sometimes an adverse tide or heavy wind lodges tons of them upon the shore. The Indians know of their arrival by the flight of the birds northward. They seldom continue over 15 days, and during this time the natives from Fort Simpson and all the adjacent regions hasten to "the feast of fat things." This fish is six to eight inches long, in form resembles the smelt, has a shining and almost transparent appearance, and of all the finny tribe it is the most fat. Its fat has not the oily, rancid taste of other fish, but has the sweet taste of fresh lard. The Indians store great quantities of it, and if well cared for it remains sweet for months. When they are dried the Indians often turn them to a novel and practical account—burn them in place of candles. They give a clear, brilliant light and are not liable to be blown out by the wind. Mr. Manson, the Superintendent at Fort Simpson, says that the tail should be lighted instead of the head, and that each fish will last about fifteen minutes. In a dark night the men who took natives for guides used to reckon a mile of travel for every five fish burned.