62 FISHERIES OF ALASKA, 1908. 



of 1,908,903 fish. In addition, a fleet of 3 San Francisco vessels oper- 

 ated in the Okhotsk Sea and caught 445,000 fish. 



THE HALIBUT FISHERY. 



This excellent food fish continues to occupy a prominent place in 

 the commercial fisheries of southeast Alaska and would make an even 

 better showing in the statistical tables could the catch of the Puget 

 Sound fleet of sail and power vessels made in local waters be included. 

 Owing to the fact that the fishing grounds of central and western 

 Alaska are too remote for fresh sliipments with the present steam- 

 ship facilities in those sections, the fishery is restricted to southeast 

 Alaska. It is very probable that hahbut would be found as abun- 

 dant in central and western Alaska as in the southeast, if not more so. 

 In winter, when the halibut is chiefly sought, storms are numerous 

 and places of shelter infrequent, so that even in southeast Alaska the 

 fishery is practically restricted to the straits and sounds formed by 

 the numerous islands. Investigation has shown, however, that 

 halibut occur in abundance in the ocean off Chichagoff and Baranof 

 islands, and the mainland between Cape Spencer and Yakutat Bay, 

 and it is extremely probable that other banks would be found if 

 search was made. The dangers of open-sea fishing will doubtless 

 eventually be disregarded, as now in the cod fishery. 



During the winter of 1907-8 and the following' spring the fishermen 

 made very good catches and received remunerative prices, as high 

 as 6 cents a pound being paid in Seattle at times. All halibut caught 

 in Alaska, except those taken by the large steamers, are shipped to 

 Seattle on the regular steamers plying between the latter place and 

 ports in southeast Alaska, and as most of these sliipments occur 

 during the fall, winter, and spring months, when other shipments are 

 light, it is a profitable business for these boats, whose o\^^lers make 

 every effort possible to aid the shippers by increasing their facilities 

 as needed. 



Early in the summer of 1908 the New England Fish Company, an 

 American corporation which at present operates from Vancouver, 

 British Columbia, began the erection of a large plant at Ketchikan, 

 which it hopes to have in operation early in 1909. It is intended to 

 handle not only halibut, but also salmon, black cod, herring, etc. 



The schooner Petrel, owned in Juneau, while in Pybus Bay, Admir- 

 alty Island, in January, turned turtle during a gale, and the master 

 and one sailor were drowned. 



The United States Signal Service has now established a wireless 

 station at Petersburg, bringing this headquarters of the halibut fleet 

 in direct communication with Puget Sound, and obviating the former 

 necessity of sending messages to Wrangell by mail and thence by wire. 



