DCHP-1 Online
fathom-fish Pacific Coast, Obs. 
n. a small fish, Thaleicthys pacificus, of the smelt family, native to the Pacific coast.
See also: oolichan
- 1849 To prepare them [oolichan] for a distant market, they are laid side by side, head and tail alternately, and then a thread run through both extremities links them together, in which state they are dried, smoked, and sold by the fathom, hence they have obtained the name of fathom-fish.
- 1897 Another name of these "smelts" was fathom-fish, given because they were strung on strings and sold by the fathom.
- 1849 To prepare them [oolichan] for a distant market, they are laid side by side, head and tail alternately, and then a thread run through both extremities links them together, in which state they are dried, smoked, and sold by the fathom, hence they have obtained the name of fathom-fish.