64 FISHERIES OF ALASKA, 1908. 



Persons Engaged in the Alaska Halibut Fisheries in 1908. 



Investment in and Products oJ' the Alaska Halibut Fisheries in 1908. 



Products. 



Round 

 weight. 



Dressed 

 weight. 



Value. 



Halibut, fresh . . . 

 Halibut, frozen.. 

 Halibut, fletched 



Total 



Pounds. 



4,559,427 

 958,360 

 144,219 



Pounds. 



3,643,542 

 766,688 

 115,375 



$144,419 



25, 194 



4,929 



5,662,006 



4,525,605 



174,542 



Puget Sound fishing fleet. — A fleet of Puget Sound power and sail 

 vessels visits southeast Alaska during the months from October to 

 March, when, owing to stormy weather and a scarcity of fish, it is 

 not safe nor profitable to visit the fishing banks near their home 

 ports. This fleet makes its headquarters mainly at Petersburg, at 

 the head of Wrangell Narrows, shipping the catch home from Scow 

 Bay near by via the regular steamship lines. During 1908 it com- 

 prised 15 power and 10 sail vessels (a decrease of 5 sail vessels as com- 

 pared with 1907), with a net tonnage of 387 tons and a value of 

 $50,850. This fleet was manned b}^ 166 men and used 69 dories 

 and $5,860 worth of trawd lines. The catch amounted to 1,527,674 

 pounds, valued at $59,255, a considerable decrease as compared with 

 1907. None of the above data is included in the statistical tables of 

 this report. 



This fleet is steadily decreasing. Each season more and more of 

 the vessels remain in Alaska for the year, some being put into summer 

 quarters, while others engage in the salmon industry and thus become 

 \ocal vessels. 



