SURVEY OF THE FISHING GROUNDS ON THE COASTS OF 
WASHINGION AND OREGON IN 1915, 
By Epwarp C. JoHNsToN. 
INTRODUCTION. 
For many years rumors have been current among the fishermen of 
Seattle that there exist, 200 or 300 miles off the Washington coast, 
banks or shoal waters from which large schools of halibut come every 
spring. The existence of such banks is apparently the most plausible 
explanation of the fact that large schools of first-class halibut very 
often arrive on the western edge of Flattery Bank, remain for a 
short time, and then disappear. These schools do not appear on 
the eastern side of the bank, and halibut are seldom found to be 
plentiful along the coast of Vancouver Island. Upon the banks off 
the Columbia River large catches of fine halibut were made in May, 
1915, but later the proportion of mushy fish became so large that 
fishing was discontinued. 
It is believed that halibut are never notably plentiful south of the 
Columbia River, and it would therefore appear that these schools of 
halibut found on the banks off Washington and Oregon must come 
from the west or northwest. 
The belief that such banks exist has been supported from time to 
time by vessels which have reported discolored water or compara- 
tively shallow soundings. Such reports have located the supposed 
banks anywhere between 60 and 200 or 300 miles offshore and between 
the latitudes of Cape Scott, the northern end of Vancouver Island, 
and the Columbia River. 
In the spring of 1915 several small patches of good halibut bottom 
were discovered by fishermen off the mouth of the Columbia River. 
The Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross was therefore detailed 
during the months of July, August, and September, 1915, to investi- 
gate the existence of fishing banks offshore, and to locate the new 
fishing grounds off the Columbia River, as well as in the region 
between the Columbia River and Flattery Bank. 
The investigation was a continuation of the work started in 1914, 
and includes: (a) Soundings made on July 9 off the Columbia River; 
(b) a sounding and fishing trip, July 19 to 28, covering the region 
between Grays Harbor and Flattery Bank and including four fishing 
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