48 THE FISHEKIES OF ALASKA IN 1906. 



this expert help larger and quicker catches would be made and the 

 schooners would be enabled to make two trips each year to the banks. 

 The men did very well as fishermen, but they were unable to accom- 

 plish the two trips, and in order to incite them to harder work the 

 company offered three prizes ($25 to the first, $15 to the second, and 

 $10 to the third) for the three men on each vessel catching the greatest 

 number of fish. On the Alice the winner of fu'st prize caught 10,935 

 fish; the second, 10,534, and the tliird, 10,002 fish. On the Joseph 

 Russ the first prize winner caught 12,650 fish; the second, 12,445, 

 and the third, 10,990 fish. Only three of the prizes were won by the 

 eastern fishermen, however. 



A serious evil, due primarily to the poor class of fishermen employed, 

 is the frequent desertions from vessels while fisliing. As the men 

 necessarily take the dory and gear with them when deserting, the 

 money loss in each case also is considerable. 



The California and Washington vessels operating in Alaskan 

 waters this year numbered about 18 fishing vessels and 4 transporters. 

 As already stated, neither they nor their catch appear in the statis- 

 tical tables of this report. 



COD HATCHING. 



The fishermen are very desirous that a hatchery be established 

 on one of the Shumagin Islands, and several generous offers to assist 

 the Bureau of Fisheries have been made by certain of the firms 

 engaged in the industry. Nothing can be done in this matter, how- 

 ever, until a specific appropriation is obtained from Congress for the 

 establishment of such a hatchery. 



HALIBUT. 



The halibut is rapidly becoming one of the most important com- 

 mercial fishes of Alaska. At present the fishery is restricted to South- 

 east Alaska, but as the demand increases and means of communica- 

 tion between Central and Western Alaska and the Puget Sound ports 

 improve, Central Alaska, at least, is certain to develop a large halibut 

 industry. Little prospecting has so far been done in the latter 

 region, but what data are available indicate that there are as good 

 banks in that section as in Southeast Alaska. Very little is known 

 in regard to the abundance of halibut in Western and Arctic Alaska, 

 but as the fish has been reported from a number of points, it will 

 probably be found there in considerable numbers. 



Various conditions combined to the disadvantage of the halibut 

 fishery this year, however. The greater part of the Alaska catch is 

 shipped to eastern points, where it comes in competition with Atlantic 

 halibut. The Atlantic fishermen made good catches in the spring 

 and summer, and the eastern market thus became glutted, so that 



