PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 29 
In 1893 the Pacific Marine Supply Co. was organized in San 
Francisco for the purpose of engaging in cod fishing and the carry- 
ing on of other business. The first published record we have of the 
company engaging in cod fishing was in 1896, when the former 
whaling schooner La Ninfa (also given as LaVympha) was outfitted 
and sent to Bering Sea. In 1904 the name was changed to the Alaska 
Codfish Co., and the business has been operated under this name 
since. In addition to a fleet of vessels the company also owns and 
operates a number of shore stations in Alaska. 
In 1898 a combination of several San Francisco firms operating in 
the cod fishery, notably the McCollam Fishing & Trading Co. and 
Lynde & Hough, was formed and the name Union Fish Co. was 
selected for the new company. 
From the very beginning San Francisco has occupied the premier 
position in the fishery, in fact, for many years it was the only place 
on the coast where cod vessels were outfitted. The industry fluctu- 
ated much and the changes in the personnel were frequent. The late 
Mr. Charles P. Overton, for many years before his death connected 
with the Union Fish Co., and one of the brightest men engaged in 
the industry, has written considerable upon the early history of 
the San Francisco fleet, and the author quotes from his writings as 
follows: 
While making a review of the past years in the codfish business, probably 
the most interest would lie in recalling the names of those who have been prom- 
inently identified with the industry. Considering the few years that the busi- 
ness has been carried on and the restricted nature of it, the list is a surprisingly 
long one, and is one that should be published as a record to be preserved among 
the archives of the industry. 
First, there was Capt. Turner himself. Like most pioneers he did not make 
much of a financial success of it and soon abandoned it to others. 
Sometime previous to 1870 Miller & Hall, the hay merchants, sent the brig 
I. B. Lunt two or three times. The fish were sold by Lynde & Hough, but the 
returns did not pay cost and interest and they dropped out. 
Andrew Crawford, the ship chandler and Tahiti trader, had a schooner in the 
eodfisheries previous to 1870. From 1870 to 1873 he operated the bark Legal 
Tender, Capt. Wentworth. At first there was a profit, but the last two years 
were so unfavorable that Crawford withdrew from codfishing and turned his 
entire attention to the South Sea trade. 
Donald Beadle was one of the prominent figures ‘‘on the front” in the early 
days having interests in the commission and shipping business, and in the old 
firm of Goodall & Perkins, and with Moss in some of the southern coast land- 
ings. Like everybody else on the front he had his turn at the codfish fever 
and was interested in the voyages of the Bernice, Kinauw, and bark Union. At 
that time the fish were all cured direct ex-vessel and so many spoiled before 
they were sold that the losses were considerable. 
Capt. Wing, backed by the funds of his son-in-law, Bailey Sargent, of. the 
American Exchange, bought the little bark Domingo, and the captain became a 
eodfisher. With an occasional diversion to South Sea trading, he fished with 
more or less regularity for five or six years, Sargent backing the ventures 
until the captain died, practically of old age. 
