The Pacific Region of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



By Thomas O. Duncan 



Puget Sound was a fishing center in the Pacific Northwest long before white men stepped ashore at 

 AIki Point in West Seattle. Fish were the important food for the Indians living on the shores of this vast 

 natural waterway. As the white settlement grew, fisheries became one of the prosperous industries. The 

 methods of fishing were varied and included a combination of methods adopted from East Coast fishermen 

 and the local Indians. Soltmg was the principal technique used to preserve the fish for consumer distribution. 

 As time progressed, newer and larger boats with more efficient gear led to a greater harvest from the sea, and 

 the preservation techniques were improved many fold. The fishermen soon learned, however, that fishery 

 stocks were not inexhaustible and felt the need for fishery research. 



During the late 1920's, many foresighted men visualized the future importance of Seattle as a fishery 

 center. One of these was the U.S. Commissioner of Fisheries hienry O'Malley. FHe selected Seattle as 

 the site for a Federal fishery research laboratory. Thus, Seattle became a center for fishery research and 

 was the logical site for the office of the Pacific Region when the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries was 

 established under the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956. 



The activities of the Bureau range from basic research on the populations of fish and the many factors 

 influencing their abundance, to the product on the consumer's table. Between these extremes, the Bureau's 

 work involves various types of problems in many fields of science and technology. The Bureau's program 

 is financed from two major sources: (1) on annual appropriation by Congress and (2) Soltonstall-Kennedy 

 funds, which represent a percentage of the duties paid on imported fishery products. 



