Onega Bay is located in the southwestern part of the White Sea. The eastern coast, from Cape Letny Orlov to the Onega River, was named the Lyamitsky coast. Some of the best-known bays in this area include Summer Zolotitsa, Konyukhova, Pushlahty, Ukhta, and Kyandskaya. Despite its small size, Pokrovskaya Bay has long been important for commercial fishing, providing a source of various fish such as herring, navaga, and flounder.
For centuries, the Pomors provided for their families thanks to fishing. This was how they got the food and other necessities for their households. Due to the harsh climate and lack of arable land, the Pomors had no other choice but to rely on the sea for their livelihood. They even had proverbs and sayings that reflected their deep connection with the sea and fish, such as “If there are fish, there is bread“, “We live by the sea, we feed off the sea“, “The sea is our field“, and “The sea is trouble, but without the sea, there is twice as much of it“.
Cod were primarily caught in the northern part of the White Sea and the Barents Sea. While there was enough cod in the White Sea to subsist on, it was not a viable option for commercial fishing, as there was not enough of it, and it was mostly small. In contrast, large cod were found in significant numbers in the Barents Sea.
From the middle of the 16th century, the Pomors started going on annual fishing expeditions to the Murman Coast. There they caught large cod as well as other valuable fish such as halibut and wolffish. They established fishing camps on the coast of the Kola Peninsula.
The punda sinker for handline cod fishing was transferred to the museum from the Pokrovskoye village in the Onega Uyezd of the Arkhangelsk Governorate. It was made in the first half of the 20th century. Handline fishing was the simplest method for catching cod that involved using a handline from a boat. This technique was often used in case of losing a long fishing line or when bait was unavailable. In the second half of the 19th century, copper spinners from England were used for handlines.
Cod is considered dietary fish, although the fat content of its liver can reach 74 percent. There are two versions of the origin of the Russian name of this fish — “treska” — which sounds similar to the verb meaning “to crackle”. According to one, it came from the fact that the Pomors often ate dried cod, and it made a crackling sound. According to another version, the name originates from the sound made by large groups of cod when they migrate to their spawning grounds.
