PACIFIC COD FISHERIES 411 



from the sea by the Russian authorities, he was forced to the wall, 

 and his stock of fish on hand and to arrive was taken over by the 

 Union Fish Co. 



In 1905 the Pacific States Trading Co. was organized at San 

 Francisco. A home-curing station was built on Carquinez Strait, 

 about 30 miles from San Francisco, and named Woodside Glen. 

 The schooners Glen (121 tons) and John F. Miller (170 tons) were 

 sent to Bering Sea. The company also built several shore stations 

 in Alaska, as noted elsewhere. Later the company added the 

 schooners Ottillie Fjord (247 tons) and the Dora Bluhtn (315 tons) 

 to its fishing fleet. On September 30, 1907, the schooner Glen, was 

 lost on Unimak Island, with the loss of one life. While the 

 schooner John F. Miller was engaged in an attempt to save the 

 wrecked schooner a gale suddenly sprang up on January 8, 1908, 

 and she was also driven ashore, 10 of her crew losing their lives. 

 This disaster to two of its fleet, together with a heavy overproduc- 

 tion in 1908 causing a slump in the market, compelled the company 

 to cease operations for a season or two. In 1909 the company's 

 schooner Ottillie Fjord Avas outfitted and sent north by the Union 

 Fish Co. In 1910 all operations were suspended, but in 1911 the 

 company resumed operations at its shore station in Northwest Har- 

 bor, and also outfitted and sent north the schooner Otillie Fjord, 

 and operated continuously until early in 1916, when the company 

 finally abandoned the business. 



For a number of years the majority of the San Francisco vessels 

 resorted to the Okhotsk Sea for their cargoes of cod, and in some 

 seasons nearly all of the vessel fishing was prosecuted there. In 1892 

 the Russian Government began to enforce a regulation imposing a 

 license on all vessels fishing within 30 miles of shore, and from this 

 time on the American vessels experienced alternate periods of harass- 

 ment and quiet, according as the disposition of the Russian governor 

 was toward lax or rigorous enforcement of the regulation. A typical 

 instance of such harassment is cited by Wilcox. 16 



The three-masl schooner Hera, 369 net tonnage, of the San Francisco codfish 

 lieet, was the only American vessel that fished in the Okhotsk Sea. Her catch 

 was all made from 10 to 30 miles from the shore. While fishing, the vessel was 

 boarded by a Russian officer, who ordered that fishing cease and that the vessel 

 report at once to the governor of the district and there procure a license. The 

 master of the Ilera denied that he was fishing in waters of Russia, as he was 

 fully 10 miles from shore. The officer threatened to seize the vessel if his order 

 was not obeyed. The master complied, and on reporting to the governor again 

 protested as to his having any legal right or authority to interfere with him 

 when fishing so far from land, no fishing having been attempted under 10 miles 

 from shore. As before, a protest was not recognized, and $1,000 in gold was 

 demanded for a license that must be procured before the vessel would be per- 

 mitted to leave the port. A compromise was made by the master giving, under 

 protest, his personal order for $1,000 on the owners of the vessel at San Fran- 

 cisco. The vessel then returned to the fishing grounds, completed her cargo, 

 and returned to San Francisco with a catch of 159,000 codfish, of a net weight 

 of 685,140 pounds. The order given by the master was forwarded to the 

 Russian consul at San Francisco for collection: but the draft having been 

 given under compulsion its payment was refused. 



In 1907 matters began to assume a serious aspect. That year the 

 followin g vessels had visited the Okhotsk Sea: The schooner John 



t^u^ILS? r! le Fi . sheries °f the Pacific Coast in 1895. by W. A. Wilcox. Report of 

 I nited States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1896, pp. 634, 635. (1898.) 



