44 HALIBUT FISHING GROUNDS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 



halibut, and in the spring and early summer a considerable fleet of 

 vessels resort to it, catching large fares. No fishing vessels of any 

 description were on the bank at the time, and neither had we ob- 

 served any off the coast of Baranof and Prince of Wales Islands. 

 It was subsequently learned that many vessels of the fleet had sus- 

 pended operations for a time, oAving to the scarcity of bait. 



The bank has an area of about. 850 square miles and extends from 

 Cape Scott, Vancouver Island, westward along the northern side 

 of Cox, Lanz, Haycock, and Triangle Islands, in places from 5 to 12 

 miles offshore in a northerly direction and some 15 miles in a north- 

 westerly direction beyond Triangle Island, the most western island 

 of the group. Fishermen assert that in proportion to its size this 

 bank has furnished as many if not more fish than any other bank 

 off the Pacific coast. In recent years, however, owing to the extensive 

 fishing which had been carried on, there has been an appreciable de- 

 crease in the supply. This, like all halibut grounds which have been 

 overfished, requires " rest," and it is very probable that in a few 

 years, should a portion of the fleet seek more northern and western 

 waters, which is likely to be the case, the bank will be restocked by 

 natural process. Several banks of the Atlantic which had become 

 nearly depleted of halibut through excessive fishing and abandoned 

 for a number of years, were found on return to them to be quite as 

 prolific as formerly, though they in course of time relapsed into their 

 previous condition. 



In the early history of the halibut fishery on the Pacific coast, the 

 grounds lying off Cape Scott, on the northern end of Vancouver 

 Island, were among the first resorted to, the fishermen having been 

 told of these grounds by the Indians living at Fort Eupert, a small 

 village situated on the east side of the island and not far from Cape 

 Scott. At that time few vessels were engaged in the industry, and 

 they confined their operations to inshore gi-ounds, not finding it neces- 

 sary to investigate small patches farther out. In consequence, the 

 fishermen possessed no positive knowledge of the extent of the bank 

 and when the spots of ground known to them became exhausted it was 

 naturally supposed that no others existed on that part of the coast. 

 This was in 1895. As the fishery increased in importance larger 

 vessels were employed and several steamers were introduced, doing 

 more or less cruising and making practical tests on grounds not pre- 

 viously fished, with the result of doubling the previous size of the 

 Cape Scott ground and for a number of years yielding exceptionally 

 large fares. 



This condition also prevailed in the vicinity of Dixon Entrance 

 and farther north on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, where 

 it was thought that a small fleet, by constant fishing, would soon tern- 



