DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVAL SERVICE 



6 GEORGE V, A. 1916 



In the summary of his anthropological observations on the Haida Indians, pub- 

 lished as Appendix A to his report on the Queen Charlotte islands (Report of Progress 

 for 1878, Geological Survey of Canada, Montreal, 1880), Dr. G. M. Dawson referred 

 to the halibut in these words : " The halibut fishery is systematically pursued, and 

 the main villages are so situated as to be within easy reach of the banks along the 

 open coast on which the fish abounds. The halibut is found in great numbers in all 

 suitable localities from cape Flattery northward, but is perhaps nowhere finer, more 

 abundant, and more easily catight than in the vicinity of the Queen Charlotte islands. 

 It may be taken in most of the waters at almost any season, though more numerous 

 on certain banks at times well known to the Indians. About Skidegate, however, it 

 IS only caught in large numbers during a few months in the spring and early summer. 

 When the fish are most plentiful the Ilaidas take them in large quantities, fishing 

 with hook and line from their canoes, which are anchored by stones attached to cedar- 

 bark ropes of suificient length. They still employ either a wooden hook armed with 

 an iron — formerly bone— barb, or a peculiarly curved iron hook of their own manu- 

 facture, in preference to the ordinary fish-hook. The halibut brought to the shore 

 are handed over by the men to the women, who rapidly clean the fish, removing the 

 larger bones, head, fins, and tail, and then cutting it into long flakes. These are next 

 hung on the poles of a wooden framework, where, without salt — by the sun alone, or 

 sometimes aided by a slow fire beneath the erection — they are dried, and eventually 

 packed away in boxes for future use." 



The historical aspect of the fishery has been touched upon more recently by Capt. 

 H. B. Joyce, of Seattle, who is known as a pioneer in the halibut fishery of the Pacific 

 coast, and inventor of the net in which the fish are hoisted on deck from the dories. 

 In his " Introductory Notes on the Halibut Fishery " (Bureau of Fisheries, Doc. No. 

 763, Washington, 1912), Captain Joyce has the following paragraph: "In the early 

 history of the Pacific halibut fishery a large portion of the catch was taken in waters 

 on the south side of Dixon entrance, in Hecate strait, between Queen Charlotte 

 islands and the islands fringing the coast of British Columbia on the east side of the 

 strait. The Indians of this region had fished in these waters from time immemorial, 

 obtaining an ample supply of fish for their needs, and they furnished the first informa- 

 tion to the white man of the abundance of halibut on grounds adjacent to their 

 villages. They were instinctively very reluctant to impart the information desired, 

 and with good reason, but constant persuasion on the part of white fishermen and a 

 promise of 50 cents a fish to the Indians for all the latter might catch were induce- 

 ments too great for the Indians to resist. Fish were furnished by these people which 

 were never paid for; and in a very short time the white fishermen had acquired full 

 knowledge of all the local grounds pointed out by the Indians, and all others which 

 they could locate." 



The discovery of fish banks or feeding grounds, whcr? the hilibut assembles at 

 times in great schools, is the reward of successful exploration on the part of the 

 master and crew of a fishing vessel. When such a spot has been found, an endeavour 

 is naturally made to keep it quiet rather than to noise it abroad. But no wry has 

 yet been hit upon to tie the tongues of fishermen when ashore in convivial humour. 

 All becomes known, new vessels arrive, and the days of full fares and easy trips are 

 soon numbered. The marvel is that the stock of halibut will stnnd for so long the 

 constant drain that is put upon it. Notwithstanding the enormous fecundity of food- 

 fishes, the necessity of looking ahead and of conserving an adequate stock oP breed- 

 ing fishes in the various species has bren c gaging the attention of administ- ators, 

 marine biologists, fisheiy experts, and others in recent years. 



The natural history of the halibut in North American waters,- so far as it [is 

 known, has been written by Dr. George Brown Goode in " The Fisheries and Fisheiy 

 Industries of the United States (section I, pp. 189-197, Washington, 1884). He 

 points out that the halibut is a cold-water species, its geographic range approximately 



