412 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



D. Spreckles, the barkentines Fremont, City of Papeete, and S. N. 

 Castle. Shortly after the vessels arrived and began fishing the 

 Russian gunboat Mandjur appeared, and an officer boarded the John 

 D. Spreckles and S. N. Castle. Taking their papers, the commander 

 ordered the vessels to quit fishing, claiming they were within the 

 30-mile limit, and threatening to seize the vessels if they did not. 

 As a result the vessels left the sea and returned to San Francisco 

 almost empty. 



A few days later, on June 12, the gunboat met and boarded the 

 Fremont and seized her papers, also. 



On June 19 the gunboat came alongside the City of Papeete, and 

 the Russian commander seized her papers and ordered her to quit 

 fishing. Captain Stensland, the master of the City of Papeete, went 

 aboard the Russian patrol boat and showed her commander a copy 

 of an opinion written several years before by John Hay, while 

 Secretary of State, to the effect that under international law the 

 vessels of any nation had a right to fish at any point 3 miles or more 

 offshore. In anticipation of just such a happening this copy had 

 been furnished to the master by A. Greenebaum, president of the 

 Alaska Codfish Co., owners of the vessel. Secretary Hay's opinion 

 seemed to have considerable influence with the officer, who at once 

 steamed to the mainland to seek advice from his superior officers. 

 . On July 10 he returned and restored the ship's papers to the master, 

 admitting that the 30-mile limit for fishing was not to be enforced. 



On July 12 the Russian gunboat steamed alongside the Fremont 

 and restored not only her own papers but also those of the John D. 

 Spreckles and S. N. Castle. 



In 1908 a fleet of three vessels fished in the Okhotsk Sea, while in 



1909 only the barkentine Fremont fished on these banks. The latter 

 vessel's master reported a considerable fleet of Japanese vessels fish- 

 ing there for cod. This was the last season in which American ves- 

 sels visited the Okhotsk Sea for cod. 



In 1891 Capt. J. A. Matheson, of Provincetown, Mass., who had 

 been engaged in the Atlantic codfishery for a number of years, sent 

 his schooner Lizzie Colby around the Horn, coming himself by rail 

 and establishing himself at Anacortes, Wash., and sent his vessel to 

 the Alaska banks, this being the first venture on the coast other than 

 from San Francisco. In 1905 the schooner Fanny Dutard was added 

 to his fleet. In 1906 the schooner Lizzie Colby dropped out. In 

 1908 the schooner Harriet G. was purchased, and it and the Fanny 

 Dutard sent north. In 1909 the same fleet was sent north, but in 



1910 only the Fanny Dutard was outfitted. San Francisco parties, 

 as noted elsewhere, purchased the plant and fleet in 1910 5 incorpo- 

 rated it as the Matheson Fisheries Co., and installed Captain Mathe- 

 son as manager. In 1912 he dropped out altogether, but late in 1914 

 purchased the fleet of the Matheson Fisheries Co. — the schooners 

 Azalea and Fanny Dutard — and sent it north under his own name 

 in 1915. 



The Puget Sound & Alaska Commercial Co. was the pioneer in the 

 cod-fishing industry from Seattle, Wash. It began operations in 

 February, 1892, and on March 5 dispatched the schooner Moonlight, 

 of 68 tons, to the Bering Sea banks. The vessel returned on August 

 20 with 175,000 pounds of salt cod. No more is heard of the company 

 after this first venture. 



