FISHERIES OF ALASKA, 1908. 61 



spring months were unusually stormy, however, and there were long 

 periods when little or no fishing could ])e done. Early in the spring 

 the rest of the fleet arrived, and until early in June operated in the 

 North Pacific off the Shumagin and Sannak islands. Most of the ves- 

 sels then entered Bering Sea and fished there the remainder of the 

 season, with a poor catch in June, but very good luck in July. The 

 additions to the Washington fleet this year were the schooner Vega 

 (233 net tons), operated by King & Winge Company, of Seattle, 

 and the brig Harriet G. (188 net tons), operated by Mr. J. A. Mathe- 

 son, of Anacortes. The schooner Carrier Dove (82 net tons), which 

 has been operated for some years by the Seattle-Alaska Fish Com- 

 pany, of Seattle, did not fish this year. The additions to the Califor- 

 nia fleet were the schooner Ivy (135 net tons), chartered by the Union 

 Fish Company, of San Francisco, and the schooner Ida McKay (178 

 net tons), operated by the Pacific-States Trading Company, of San 

 Francisco. 



On September 30, 1907, the schooner Glen, belonging to the Pacific- 

 States Trading Company, of San Francisco, was wrecked in Bear 

 Harbor, near Cape Pankof, Unimak Island. In January following 

 the schooner John F. Miller, belonging to the same company, visited 

 the wrecked schooner for the purpose of salving as much as possible 

 of her cargo of codfish, and after takmg on board a considerable quan- 

 tity was caught in a storm and, coated with ice and immanageable, 

 was driven upon the beach and wrecked. Out of her crew of 33 men 

 10 were frozen to death. It is very probable that both vessels will be 

 a total loss. 



These wrecks were the crowning misfortune of the Pacific-States 

 Trading Compan}'^, which after several years' struggle for success in 

 the cod fishery this year gave up. In August all its stock of fish on 

 hand and expected to arrive was sold to the Union Fish Company, 

 of San Francisco, which also leased for a term of years the drying 

 plant at Glen Cove, near Vallejo, and the vessels of the company, of 

 which they secured immediate possession, while the stations of the 

 company in Alaska will be taken over on lease in April, 1909. 



The schooner Czarina, belonging to the Union Fish Company, of 

 San Francisco, lost four of its fishermen early in the summer by the 

 capsizing of their boats. 



This year the Robinson Fisheries Company, of i^jiacortes, very 

 materially increased the pay of its fishermen. Men catching more 

 than 10,000 fish received $30 per thousand; those catching 8,000 and 

 under 10,000, $27.50 per thousand; less than 8,000, $25. No fish less 

 than 28 inches in length was counted. 



The vessels from Washington operating in Alaska waters caught 

 1,103,500 fish, while those from San Francisco caught 805,403, a total 



