HISTORY OF HALIBUT FISHERY 13 



oped by U.S. and Canadian fishermen with its real beginning occur- 

 ring after completion of the railroads into the Northwest in 1887, 

 which opened iij) the eastern markets. With each improvement in 

 fishing equipment, such as the change from sail to steam, from steam 

 to gasoline motors, and from gasoline to distillate to diesel fuel, the 

 intensity of fishing increased and the fishery was pushed farther and 

 farther a^\ay from the ports of landing. Since the market was greatly 

 expanded after the means of transportation were found, the intensity 

 of exploitation increased and first reached a peak of about 60 million 

 pounds in 1912 off the coast of British Columbia alone and in 1915 

 totalled over 68 million pounds for the entire coast. Following 

 World War I and the introduction of diesel motors, the area of 

 exploitation was extended across the Gulf of Alaska, and the south- 

 ern shores of the Aleutian Peninsida were brought within the range 

 of the fishery. 



The decline in both catch per unit of effort, or abundance, and the 

 total catch occurred off the coast of British Columbia even l3efore the 

 First World War. A preliminary investigation of the condition of 

 these halibut stocks was begun by W. F. Thompson in 1913. With 

 the further expansion of the fishery after the war and the continued 

 decline in the catch per unit of effort, a treaty was concluded be- 

 tween Canada and the United States which was ratified in 1924 and 

 resulted, in 1925, in the formation of the International Pacific Hali- 

 but Commission. This treaty provided for investigation of the biol- 

 ogy and supply of the fish, for a closed season of three months during 

 each w^inter. By 1930 it had become obvious from the scientific in- 

 vestigation of the Halibut Commission's staff that the fishery was the 

 primary cause of the decline in halibut catch, and a new treaty was 

 concluded which empo^vered the Commission to change or suspend 

 closed seasons and to set catch limits. 



Regulation of the northeastern Pacific halibut fishery began in 

 1932, and since that time the Canadian and United States fishermen 

 have been strictly controlled as to the amount and sizes of fish they 

 are permitted to take from particular areas each year and ^vhen they 

 may take them. It is only through these regulations that the halibut 

 fishery has been rebuilt to the high le\ el of abundance ^vhich is no^v 

 being sustained by the stocks. 



The record of the Halibut Commission shows a careful approach 

 to the solution of the basic problem of restoring the fishery to a high 



