PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF HAUBUT FISHING GROUNDS OF 

 THE PACIFIC COAST, 



By A. B. Alexander. 



The decreasing supply of halibut reported on some of the Pacific 

 banks which were formerly fished with profit, and the marked falling 

 off in 1909 and 1910 in certain localities, alarmed the fishermen and 

 caused a request to be made of the Bureau of Fisheries for an ex- 

 tended practical investigation designed to reveal the possibilities 

 of certain banks lying west of southeast Alaska and not hitherto 

 fished for halibut. Nearly all the gi'ounds off the coast of central 

 and western Alaska, including banks in Bering Sea, had previously 

 been investigated by the steamer Albatross for cod, but no special 

 effort had been made to ascertain the abundance of halibut, although 

 fish of this species were frequently taken on hand lines from the 

 ship and on trawls set for cod. 



Vessels employed in the cod fishery have at times reported taking 

 incidentally considerable quantities of halibut on Albatross, Port- 

 lock, Sannak, and other banks. Pelagic sealers also have reported 

 catching halibut on various banks between Middleton Island and 

 Unimak Pass. Trials of this kind, however, furnished little knowl- 

 edge as to the abundance of halibut in any particular locality or the 

 extent of ground where good fishing might be expected. Beyond 

 the vicinity of Kodiak, Yakutat, and a few other places along the 

 coast, fishermen possessed little authentic knowledge of halibut 

 grounds. 



On May 25, 1911, the steamer Alhafros's, Commander Guy H. 

 Burrage, United States Navy, commanding, left Seattle, "Wash., fitted 

 with necessary fishing apparatus, such as halibut trawls, hand lines, 

 dories, etc., for making an investigation of halibut banks in Alaskan 

 waters. In addition to the regular crew there were four practical 

 halibut fishermen, Harry Greenwood, Chris Jachobsen, J. F. Mac- 

 Donald, and G. W. Friis, who during the cruise were under the direc- 

 tion of Capt. H. B. Joyce, of Seattle, a pioneer in the halibut fishery 

 of the Pacific coast, who for a number of years had been in charge of 

 steamers belonging to the New England Fish Co., of Vancouver, 

 British Columbia, and who had been instrumental in calling atten- 



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