ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 1930 67 



CBABS 



The preparation of crab meat in Alaska was again carried on chiefly 

 by the Northern Sea Food Co., which operated at Petersburg and 

 Cordova. One other operator in the latter place was also engaged in 

 the business. Employment was given to 37 persons, of whom 35 

 were whites and 2 Filipinos. Products consisted of 87,461 pounds of 

 cold-packed meat, valued at $34,073, and 774 dozen crabs in the 

 shell, valued at $1,324. The total value of products in 1930 was 

 $35,397, as compared with $72,865 in 1929 — a decrease of 51 per cent. 



While the production of crabs was on a small scale in 1930, some 

 exploratory work was done, particularly in the Prince William Sound 

 region, with a view to developing increased operations in the future. 



JAPANESE VESSELS IN BERING SEA 



Operations of Japanese floating crab canneries, which have grown 

 phenomenally in the last decade, were extended into Bering Sea in 

 the summer of 1930, when the cannery steamer Taihoku Maru 

 engaged in catching and canning spider crabs in those waters. This 

 vessel, of 7,834 tons, 500 feet in length, and 52 feet beam, was manned 

 by a crew of about 300. It was accompanied by the steam beam 

 trawler Myogi Maru and a number of power launches. 



The United States Coast Guard cutter Chelan first made contact 

 with the Taihoku Maru on June 30, 1930, when the latter was anchored 

 in 37 fathoms on Baird Bank, 21 miles offshore from Nelson Lagoon 

 on the Alaska Peninsula, in Bering Sea waters at 56° 18' north 

 latitude, 161° 32' west longitude. There was no evidence that the 

 vessel was engaged in any fishery activity other than in respect to 

 crab operations. Subsequent contacts by the Chelan and other 

 American vessels were made from time to time during July and 

 August in the same general region oft' the Alaska Peninsula. It is 

 reported that the Taihoku Maru packed upward of 20,000 cases of 

 crabs in these waters. 



The Japanese Government vessel Hakuyo Maru also made a trip 

 to Bering Sea in 1930 and on June 26 was anchored in the waters of 

 Dutch Harbor. This vessel is a training ship of the Imperial Fisheries 

 Institute of Tokyo, and is a modern steel vessel of about 2,000 tons, 

 Diesel power, and well equipped with modern appliances. The per- 

 sonnel consisted of 30 in the crew, and there were 10 officers and 

 instructors as well as 32 students aboard. Regular classrooms with 

 tables, benches, and blackboards were located aft and forward on the 

 main deck. There was also machinery for a miniature canning 

 outfit. 



In addition to the foregoing, the Kokusai Maru, a trawler belonging 

 to the International Fisheries Co. of Tokyo, did some prospecting 

 during the month of August in Biistol Bay, outside a 15-mile limit. 

 The Kokusai Maru, which is 118 feet in length, was equipped with 

 four trawls. When the vessel, en route to Tokyo, entered Dutch 

 Harbor on September 1 to take on a supply of fresh water, it had on 

 board a cargo of approximately 3 tons of salt cod, 300 pounds of 

 crabs, and 30 halibut. 



