PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 83 
For a number of years the majority of the San Francisco vessels 
resorted to the Okhotsk Sea for their cargoes of cod, and in some 
seasons nearly all of the vessel fishing was prosecuted there. In 1892 
the Russian Government began to enforce a regulation imposing a 
license on all vessels fishing within 30 miles of shore, and from this 
time on the American vessels experienced alternate periods of harass- 
ment and quiet, according as the disposition of the Russian Governor 
was toward lax or rigorous enforcement of the regulation. <A typical 
instance of such harassment is cited by Wilcox.? 
The three-mast schooner Hera, 369 net tonnage, of the San Francisco codfish 
fleet, was the only American vessel that fished in the Okhotsk Sea. Her catch 
was all made from 10 to 30 miles from the shore. While fishing, the vessel was 
boarded by a Russian officer, who ordered that fishing cease and that the vessel 
report at once to the governor of the district and there procure a ‘license. The 
master of the Hera denied that he was fishing in waters of Russia, as he was 
fully 10 miles from shore. The officer threatened to seize the vessel if his order 
was not obeyed. The master complied, and on reporting to the governor again 
protested as to his having any legal right or authority to interfere with him 
when fishing so far from land, no fishing having been attempted under 10 miles 
from shore. As before, a protest was not recognized, and $1,000 in gold was 
demanded for a license that must be procured before the vessel would be per- 
mitted to leave the port. A compromise was made by the master giving, under 
protest, his personal order for $1,000 on the owners of the vessel at San Fran- 
cisco. The vessel then returned to the fishing grounds, completed her cargo, 
and returned to San Francisco with a catch of 159,000 codfish, of a net weight 
of 685,140 pounds. The order given by the master was forwarded to the Russian 
consul at San Francisco for collection; but the draft having been given under 
compulsion its payment was refused. 
In 1907 matters began to assume a serious aspect. That year the 
following vessels had visited the Okhotsk Sea: The schooner John 
D. Spreckles, the barkentines Fremont, City of Papeete, and S. N. 
Castle. Shortly after the vessels arrived and began fishing the 
Russian gunboat J/andjur appeared, and an officer boarded the John 
D. Spreckles and S. N. Castle. Taking their papers, the commander 
ordered the vessels to quit fishing, claiming they were within the 
30-mile limit, and threatening to seize the vessels if they did not. 
As a result the vessels left the sea and returned to San Francisco 
almost empty. 
A few days later, on June 12, the gunboat met and boarded the 
Fremont and seized her papers, also. 
On June 19 the gunboat came alongside the City of Papeete, and 
the Russian commander seized her papers and ordered her to quit 
fishing. Capt. Stensland, the master of the City of Papeete, went 
aboard the Russian patrol boat and showed her commander a copy 
of an opinion written several years before by John Hay, while Sec- 
*Notes on the Fisheries of the Pacific Coast in 1895, by W. A. Wilcox. Report of 
United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1896, p. 634, 635. (1898.) 
