FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1910. 41 



Chatham Strait are too deep for general fishing, but off Point Gardi- 

 ner and at several spots off Baranof Island, are to be found good 

 fishing banks, while Kootznahoo Inlet, on Admiralty Island, yields 

 good fishing in summer. In Sumner Strait are to be found very 

 good deep-water winter fishing grounds. During the winter of 1909-10 

 some of the fishermen fished here in water as deep as 250 fathoms. 

 The vicinity of the Eye Opener is the best ground to be found in the 

 strait. Indians fish considerably in Boca de Quadra and the vicinity 

 of Kah Shakes Cove, Mary's Island, and the mouths of Kasaan Bay 

 and Cholmondeley Sound. In Stephens Passage considerable fish- 

 ing is done in and just off the mouth of Seymour Canal. Most of the 

 fishing in the protected waters of southeast Alaska has heretofore 

 been done in winter, as the fish were then most abundant and the 

 prices realized were better than in summer when the Puget Sound 

 fleet operates on the Flattery Banks, off the Washington coast, and 

 brings the fish in in such abundance that the Alaska-caught fish, 

 which have to be shipped on the steamers plying between Seattle 

 and southeast Alaska ports, at considerable expense, can not com- 

 pete. This summer, however, the New England Fish Co. bought 

 and froze all halibut brought to its Ketchikan plant and as a result a 

 number of fishermen continued halibut fishing throughout the year. 

 For many years the Puget Sound steamers and large power vessels 

 fished in Hecate Strait and off the chain of islands lying outside the 

 British Columbia mainland. During the last few years these banks 

 have been growing less and less productive, and as the Canadian 

 fishery protection boats have very much harassed our fishermen who 

 were operating in these waters, or who were driven into its harbors 

 by stress of weather or for wood and water, they have been gradually 

 extending their operations northward into Alaska waters, where they 

 would be free from molestation. It has been known for some years 

 that halibut were abundant at certain regions in the ocean off 

 the outer fringe of islands in southeast Alaska, more particularly off 

 Baranof Island and the mainland between Cape Spencer and Yaku- 

 tat Bay, and it was surmised that other and possibly more ex- 

 tensive banks would be found if looked for. During the winter 

 of 1909-10 several of the vessels prospected the open waters between 

 Cape Muzon and Sitka, with the result that halibut were found in 

 great abundance throughout the greater part of this area. Off 

 Forrester Island seemed to be the center of greatest abundance. 

 Here an average depth of 80 fathoms is found for about 4 miles from 

 shore; a little farther out it deepens to 150 fathoms. The first few 

 cargoes from here averaged 15 pounds to the fish, but the average 

 soon dropped to 14 pounds. One steamer early in July caught about 

 250,000 pounds of halibut on the Forrester Island banks during one 

 trip. 



