532 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Fishery products landed at Seattle, Wash., 1927 — Continued 

 BY COLLECTING VESSELS: In Puget Sound— Continued 



1 13, 670 dozen. 



HALIBUT FISHERY OF THE PACIFIC COAST 



The American halibut fleet on the Pacific coast in 1927 numbered 

 232 vessels that fish regular!}" for halibut; their total tonnage was 

 5,581, they were manned by 1,707 fishermen, and operated 10,490 

 skates of lines. In addition to the regular vessels, about 40 other 

 vessels and 170 boats landed halibut at times. The total catch 

 amounted to 45,100,000 pounds, valued at $5,233,000. In making 

 tliis catch, a few other varieties of fish were caught incidentally and 

 landed. They were as follows: Sablefish, 3,879,000 pounds, valued 

 at $235,000; "lingcod," 989,000 pounds, valued at $38,000; and rock- 

 fish, 473,000 pounds, valued at $19,000; maldng the total value of 

 the hahbut fishery's 1927 output, $5,523,000. 



8 To preclude the possibility of unwarranted comparison of figures given in this section with others for 

 previous years, it should be explained that the figures as herein compiled differ from those published in 

 separate reports for the Alaska fisheries and the Pacific Coast States. The difference lies principally in the 

 fleet classifications as between Washington and Alaska, though there is reason to believe that the figures 

 on landings also are not comparable with those previously published, due to variable practice in the inclu- 

 sion of American-caught halibut landed at foreign ports as well as the possible duplication of figures. 



The present compilation is a complete rasume of the landings of the American fleet for the year 1927, 

 without omission or duplication. The fieet classification has been applied arbitrarily by including in the 

 "Washington fleet" all vessels that land more than half of their catch in that State. All others were 

 included in the "Alaska fleet." It has been necessary, in some cases, to use "hailing fares"; the error 

 therefrom is estimated to be less than 2 per cent. 



