52 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



early months of the year the fleet met with good success on the 

 recently discovered banks off North Island, just north of Graham 

 Island, and also on other fishing grounds. Later in the spring large 

 catches were taken on the Goose Island banks. In the summer 

 months fish were abundant in many localities, and the fleet covered a 

 wide range of territory, including Cape Scott, Sydney Inlet, off 

 Flattery, and up the west shore of Vancouver Island, The fleet con- 

 sisted of about GO steamers and schooners, in addition to which a 

 large number of boats of a smaller type engaged in the industry in 

 Alaskan waters. There was also a large local fleet of vessels and 

 boats fishing from Alaskan ports. In the past few years the halibut 

 fishery of the Pacific coast has increased in importance until it now 

 ranks second only to the salmon industry. 



FLORIDA SPONGE LAW. 



In the Bureau's report for the preceding fiscal year there were 

 pointed out certuhi defects militating against the efficient enforce- 

 ment of the act of June 20, 1906, for the protection of the sponge 

 fisheries on the high seas adjacent to the coast of Florida. It is not 

 necessary again to indicate these defects in detail, but the experi- 

 ence of the past year has emphasized their importance. Breaches 

 of the law have been flagrant and numerous. At the end of the 

 fiscal year it came to the knowledge of the Bureau that a fleet of 

 about 15 vessels — some reports stated the number at 30 — were en- 

 gaged in the illicit diving for sponges during the close season, and 

 that quantities of sponges smaller than the legal minimum size were 

 being placed on the market. 



With the appropriation, which became available on July 1, for 

 the enforcement of the act during the fiscal year 1912, it is hoped 

 that the illegal practices may be curbed, but the form of the law 

 makes the attempt unnecessarily difficult. It is believed that the law 

 should be speedily amended so as to minimize the difficulty and ex- 

 pense of enforcement. The Bureau also believes that the close season 

 should be shortened, as the present five months of idleness is wasteful 

 of capital and demoralizing to labor. To compensate for the addi- 

 tional drain which this would impose on the sponge beds, the mini- 

 mum size limit of sponges which can be legally taken should be raised 

 from 4 inches to 5 inches. These measures taken together are both 

 economically and biologically justifiable from every viewpoint. 



INTERNATIONAL FISHERY AFFAIRS. 



NORTH ATLANTIC FISHERIES DISPUTE AND ARBITRATION. 



The Bureau has for many years been more or less involved in the 

 fishery questions arising in connection with the operations of Ameri- 

 can fishermen on the shores of Newfoundland, Labrador, Magdalen 



