HALIBUT FISHING GROUNDS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 11 



Vancouver Island have been frequented by halibut fishermen since 

 1888 and are still visited, but with less success. There have been 

 millions of pounds taken from near Cape Scott and occasionally 

 from small spots which have been located along the shores of Van- 

 couver Island, where good fishing would be found lasting sometimes 

 several weeks. 



The banks stretching from the Straits of Fuca soutliAvard 50 miles 

 from Cape Flattery and westward to those off the coast of Vancouver 

 Island are a continuation of those along the coast of Vancouver 

 Island and the conditions found there are about the same. These 

 Flattery Banks have been fished on since the beginning of the halibut 

 fishery on the Pacific coast, have produced a greater quantity for 

 their size than any other ground, and are still frequented between 

 January and July, after which the quality of the fish found there is 

 poor ; and the better fishing is farther north. 



This enumeration of the most productive spots for halibut fishing 

 does not include those situated off of the coast of Alaska, which have 

 not been operated on so long or so extensively as those of British 

 Columbia. All the Alaska grounds are situated on the great shelf 

 or continental plateau which extends from the shores of the con- 

 tinent under 50 to 150 fathoms of ocean, a distance of 15 to 50 miles 

 from land to where the embankment suddenly deepens to 1,000 or 

 1,500 fathoms and the grounds become muddy. 



The halibut industry is carried on mainly from Vancouver, Brit- 

 ish Columbia, and Seattle, and in 1911 the halibut fleet on the Pacific 

 coast consisted of 13 steamers and 58 sail and power vessels. The 

 parties operating from Vancouver represent the wholesale dealers in 

 fish at New York and Boston operating in the West under the name 

 of New England Fish Co. and the Canadian Fisheries Co. (Ltd.). 

 This combination took up the industry after the failure of the 

 pioneers to secure a profit, and by reason of their large trade com- 

 bined were able to dispose of the product at profitable rates. They 

 employ under the New England heading three steel steamers de- 

 signed for the business of an average value of $75,000 each (with out- 

 fit), built and registered in the United States. The catch of fish is 

 landed in Canada in bonded warehouses and shipped in bonded re- 

 frigerators via Canadian Pacific Railroad to Boston and New York, 

 where it is admitted free of duty as product of American fisheries; 

 if any part of the product is sold in Canada, a duty of one-half cent 

 per pound is paid. 



Under the name of the Canadian Fisheries Co. (Ltd.), this combine 

 has two steel boats, bought in England (secondhand) and valued at 

 about $25,000 each, the cargoes of which are landed free in warehouses 

 in Canada and sold as product of Canadian fisheries there without 

 the payment of duties in Canada ; if any part of the catch of these 



