14 FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST STATES IN 1904. 



pounds. Four hundred and forty-two thousand pounds were taken 

 with small boats off the coast of Washington. The 3 steamers took 

 3,800,000 pounds from Alaskan waters. The resulting total, there- 

 fore, is 5,067,000 pounds of halibut from off the coast of Washington, 

 and 7,149,000 pounds from Alaskan waters, or a grand total of 

 12,216,000 pounds, valued at $361,680. This value is an average of 

 nearly 3 cents a pound to the fisherman. 



COD 



Washington. — The quantity of cod salted by vessels is gradually 

 increasing. In 1904, 2 vessels from Anacortes and 2 vessels from 

 Seattle landed a total of 2,072,000 pounds, having a value of $62,450. 

 This is an increase from the catch in 1899, which was 930,000 pounds, 

 valued at $23,250, landed by 2 vessels. The fish are taken on the cod 

 banks of Alaska with trawls and hand lines operated from dories. 

 There is a "dressing gang" on board, hired for that purpose, and the 

 fish are kenched in the hold of the vessel. 



The lay of the crew varies somewhat from that of Atlantic coast 

 vessels. The vessel furnishes the gear, bait, and provisions. The 

 captain receives $125 per month; the first mate $40 per month and $40 

 per 1,000 for all fish caught by him; the second mate $35 per month 

 and $35 per 1,000 for fish caught by him, and the fishermen $25 to $30 

 per 1,000 fish taken by them. A "dressing gang" of four, who do not 

 leave the vessel, receive $25 per month and $25 per 1,000 for the fish 

 they catch from the vessel while waiting for the return of the fisher- 

 men. The splitter and the Salter receive $75 a month each. 



On arriving at the home port the fish are placed in pickle in wooden 

 vats until such time as needed. The} 7 are then dried on flakes in the 

 open air, taken to the packing room, where the skins and bones are 

 removed, and pressed into bricks and packed as boneless cod, to be 

 shipped to various parts of the country. A small quantity arc hard 

 dried and shipped whole. 



California. — The cod fishery of California, centering at San Fran- 

 cisco, suffered from the severe storms in Bering Sea in 1904, and the 

 catch of 5,622,944 pounds was somewhat less than in 1899. The 

 demand for salt codfish on the Pacific coast shows a steady gain, due 

 in part to an improvement in the quality, to the care exercised, and 

 the condition in which the product is placed on the market. 



Besides employing a fleet of vessels, the San Francisco cod firms 

 have fishing stations in Alaska supplied with salt and stores from 

 which the'vessels can draw, and a crew remains at each station to fish 

 from dories on local grounds. Stands for dressing the catch and 

 houses for curing it are built on shore, where the fish remain until the 

 end of the season, then to be loaded into transports and taken to the 

 home port. 



