86 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



could best be assured. She readied that locality ou January 4, 1894, 

 and remained there until March 27, the examination of the bay being 

 conducted by Mr. 1ST. B. Miller, under the direction of Commander Tan- 

 ner, and relating to its general fishery resources and its advantages 

 for oyster cultivation. Returning to the Mare Island navy-yard the 

 last of March, Mr. Townsend and Mr. Alexander were dispatched to 

 the Puget Sound region to make inquiries respecting the character 

 and conditions of the sea and salmon fisheries adjacent to the interna- 

 tional boundary line in the interest of the joint investigation elsewhere 

 described. On April 11 the ship was again placed under the orders 

 of the Secretary of the Navy for detail to sealing patrol service during 

 the season of 1895, and on April 19 she reached Port Townsend, the 

 first rendezvous of the fleet. Nearly a month was spent in this region, 

 such time as could be spared being given to cooperating with Messrs. 

 Townsend and Alexander in the local inquiries above referred to. 



Commander Tanner relinquished his command on May 1, being suc- 

 ceeded by Lieut. Commander F. J. Drake, U. S. N., and on May 17 the 

 Albatross proceeded north in company with the flagship, the U. S. S. 

 Mohican. The course was first to Unalaska, and thence to Attn Island, 

 at the western end of the Aleutian chain, where Lieutenant Jacobs, 

 United States Revenue Marine, was landed. Returning eastward, an 

 outlook was maintained for the purpose of intercepting any sealing 

 schooners which might approach from the westward with the intention 

 of entering Bering Sea. Stops were made at the islands of Agattu, 

 Kyska, and Atka, and the fishing-gi ounds in their vicinity were hastily 

 examined. The latter part of June was occupied in patrol duty and in 

 conducting observations relative to the distribution and pelagic habits 

 of the fur-seal to the eastward and the southeastward of the Pribilof 

 Islands, fishing trials being also made in the same connection. The 

 instructions for 1895 contemplated the same combination of fishery and 

 sealing work that had been carried on the previous season. 



During the year the Albatross had been at sea 138 days, and had 

 steamed 17,269 miles. The number of fishing and dredging stations 

 occupied Avas 223, and of hydrographic stations 259. The civilian 

 scientific staff consisted of Mr. C. H. Townsend, naturalist; Mr. A. B. 

 Alexander, fishery expert; and Mr. 1ST. B. Miller, laboratory assistant. 

 Mention should also be made of Mr. H. C. Fassett, the captain's clerk, 

 for his efficient services in preparing the charts illustrating the results 

 of the investigations. 



The retirement from active service with the Fish Commission, near 

 the close of the fiscal year, of Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., has 

 been the cause of deep regret, to which the writer ventures to give 

 expression in this connection. Illness, following an attack of grip, made 

 it imprudent for him to risk the exposure or assume the arduous duties 

 attendant upon a northern cruise during the summer of 1894, and hence 

 the action taken, at his own request. Commander Tanner was first 

 assigned to duty with the Fish Commission as in charge of the tempo- 



