6 SURVEY OF FISHING GROUNDS, 1915. 
trials; (c) asounding trip August 9 to 19, over a strip 60 miles wide and 
approximately 300 miles long west of Cape Flattery; (d) a sounding 
trip September 2 to 11, extending from Grays Harbor south to 
Cascade Head. No fishing trials were made on the second and third 
trips. 
Credit is given to the commanding officer of the steamer Albatross, 
Lieut. Commander J. J. Hannigan, United States Navy, and to the 
officers under him for their willing and efficient cooperation during 
the investigation. The expert knowledge and advice of Mr. Edward 
Driscoll, in charge of the fishing operations, contributed largely to 
the success of the work. The fishermen of Seattle have contributed 
much in the way of advice and information, and the files of The Pacific 
Fisherman have supplied many items of valuable information. 
RESUME OF PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS. 
Since the year 1885 various desultory fishing trials have been made 
off the Washington and Oregon coasts. Early in that year the Port- 
land Deep Sea Fish Co., of Portland, Oreg., sent out a small schooner 
equipped with a 40-foot beam trawl. In 1887 another trial was made, 
and although flounders, soles, red rock cod, and a very few halibut 
were taken by both of these vessels, the trips were not successful. 
In 1888-1890 the steamer Albatross carried on an investigation off 
the coast from Cape Flattery southward, and found four banks,? as 
follows: 
1. Flattery Bank, 1,100 square miles, least depth 27 fathoms, off 
Cape Flattery. 
2. Willapa Bank, 110 square miles, least depth 42 fathoms, 23 
miles W. by S. (magnetic) from Toke Point Light, Willapa Bay. 
3. Yaquina Bank, 40 square miles, least depth 42 fathoms, 19 
miles SSW. } W. (magnetic) from Yaquina Head. 
4. Heceta Bank, 300 square miles, least depth 4) fathoms, 35 
miles SW. 4 W. from Heceta Head. 
In this work but few halibut were taken, several species of rock cod 
were found to be generally distributed, and flounders and cultus cod 
were abundant on all the banks. 
During the summer of 1914 the United States Bureau of Fisheries 
conducted an investigation of the fishing grounds off the coast of 
Washington and Oregon. The greater part of this work was confined 
to the region between Heceta Bank and the Columbia River, although 
some time was given to the sections off Grays Harbor and Coos Bay. 
In all, 38 sets were made for halibut with varying success, resulting 
in the conclusion that if halibut were to be found off the Oregon 
coast in paying quantities, they would occur as a seasonal run when 
« Summary of the fishing investigations conducted in the North Pacific Ocean, by Richard Rathbun, 
Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission, vol. x11, 1892, p. 127-205. 
