300 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Products of Alaska herring indxistry in 1929 



1 3,120,307 gallons. 



2 220,872 gallons. 



HALIBUT 



13,341,179 gallons. 



A light carry-over at the opening of the season and the consequent 

 strengthening of the market led to increased eflFort in the halibut 

 industry. Throughout most of the 1920 season prices were higher and 

 the market was steadier than in the preceding year, and the total 

 catch b}^ the Alaska fleet showed a considerable gain. The catches 

 of immature halibut, however, are becoming more and more out of 

 proportion to the number of medium and large fish taken and point 

 toward the inevitable depletion of the fishery unless more effective 

 conservation measures are soon adopted. 



No new fishing banks have been discovered, and the increase in the 

 output of halibut in 1929 w\as brought about bj"^ more intensive fishing 

 on the known banks, particularly those of the Gulf of Alaska from 

 Yakutat westward beyond Kodiak Island. There was little tendency 

 to extend operations to the more distant banks west of the Trinity 

 Islands. 



Bait supplies generally w^ere adequate, several cold-storage plants 

 in southeast Alaska putting up a considerable amount of frozen her- 

 ring, while in the central district a fair quantity of bait herring was 

 available, chiefly in the Kodiak region. The floating freezer Donna 

 Lane was again operated, but only a small percentage of the bait 

 handled was frozen, while the amount of frozen halibut prepared w as 

 much larger than in the preceding year. 



Stormy weather, particularly near the beginning and close of the 

 season, caused a heavy loss of life and pro])erty. On February 19 the 

 Vansee was damaged in a gale in the Gulf of Alaska and two of the 

 crew were carried overboard. In March a member of the crew of the 

 schooner Tordenskjold was drowned. The Kanatak with all on board 

 disappeared in a heavy storm on November 11 , at which time also the 

 Sea Bird was sw^pt by a sea that carried away the pilot house and two 

 men at the wheel, the vessel later being driven ashore on Wingham 

 Island, where the survivors w(>re jjicked up. Two other schooners, 

 the Tahoma and Aliddleton, each lost a man overboard during the 

 same storm. About the 1st of October the Tyee was found abandoned 

 at sea, off Puffin Bay, with a large hole in the stern. It is believed that 

 the four men of the crew w^ere lost in attempting to make shore in a 



