34 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
retary of State, to the effect that under international law the vessels 
of any nation had a right to fish at any point 3 miles or more off- 
shore. In anticipation of just such a happening this copy had been 
furnished to the master by A. Greenebaum, president of the Alaska 
Codfish Co., owners of the vessel. Secretary Hay’s opinion seemed 
to have considerable influence with the officer, who at once steamed to 
- the mainland to seek advice from his superior officers. On July 10- 
he returned and restored the ship’s papers to the master, admitting 
that the 30-mile limit for fishing was not to be enforced. 
On July 12 the Russian gunboat steamed alongside the Fremont 
and restored not only her own papers but also those of the John D. 
Spreckles and S. N. Castle. 
In 1908 a fleet of three vessels fished in the Okhotsk Sea, while in 
1909 only the barkentine /'remont fished on these banks. The latter 
vessel’s master reported a considerable fleet of Japanese vessels fish- 
ing there for cod. This was the last season in which American vessels 
visited the Okhotsk Sea for cod. 
In 1891 Capt. J. A. Matheson, of Provincetown, Mass., who had 
been engaged in the Atlantic codfishery for a number of years, sent 
his schooner Lizzie Colby around the Horn, coming himself by rail 
and establishing himself at Anacortes, Wash., and sent his vessel to 
the Alaska banks, this being the first venture on the coast other than 
from San Francisco. In 1905 the schooner Fanny Dutard was added 
to his fleet. In 1906 the schooner Lizzie Colby dropped out. In 
1908 the schooner Harriet G. was purchased and it and the Panny 
Dutard sent north. In 1909 the same fleet was sent north, but in 
1910 only the Fanny Dutard was outfitted. San Francisco parties, 
as noted elsewhere, purchased the plant and fleet in 1910, incorpo- 
rated it as the Matheson Fisheries Co., and installed Capt. Matheson 
as manager. In 1912 he dropped out altogether, but late in 1914 
purchased the fleet of the Matheson Fisheries Co.—the schooners 
Azalea and Fanny Dutard—and sent it north under his own name 
in 1915. 
The Puget Sound & Alaska Commercial Co. was the pioneer in the 
cod fishing industry from Seattle, Wash. It began operations in 
February, 1892, and on March 5 dispatched the schooner Moonlight, 
of 68 tons. to the Bering Sea banks. The vessel returned on August 
20 with 175,000 pounds of salt cod. No more is heard of the company 
after this first venture. 
In 1896 Tracy H. Robertson organized the Oceanic Packing Co., 
with headquarters in Seattle, and outfitted and sent to Bering Sea 
the schooner mma F. Harriman. She returned with a full cargo, 
but as the demand in the Northwest for cod was quite slack, the ves- 
sel was sent direct to San Francisco and the cargo sold there. 
