PACIFIC HALIBUT FISHERY DECLINING 



By John N. Cobb, Seattle, Wash. 



For the past two years the condition of the halibut 

 fishery of the Pacific Coast has been a cause for concern 

 on the part of those interested in its preservation. While 

 the total yearly catch of halibut has been steadily on the 

 increase for some years, thus apparently indicating a 

 healthy condition, yet the reverse is really the case, the 

 increase in catch being far from proportionate to the 

 increase in the fleets operating, while it has been neces- 

 sary to extend widely the range covered and to increase 

 vastly the amount of gear used in order to secure this 

 catch, thus showing that the reserve or capital stock of 

 fish is being steadily depleted. 



In showing the present statistical condition of the in- 

 dustry as compared with some years ago I have selected 

 the years 1904 and 1914, a period during which the 

 greatest changes and expansion in the industry have oc- 

 curred, and have restricted the data to the Puget Sound 

 fleet, which in both years comprised the greater part of 

 the vessels working on the halibut banks, and the one 

 for which the data are most complete. The catch per 

 dory will be used for comparison as being the one most 

 easily fixed. 



In 1904, the Puget Sound fleet comprised 35 sailing 

 schooners, with a net tonnage of 645, and operating 78 

 dories ; 1 power schooner, with a net tonnage of 14, and 

 operating 3 dories; and 3 steamers, with a net tonnage 

 of 108, and operating 18 dories; making a grand total 

 of 39 vessels with a net tonnage of 767, and operating 

 99 dories. This gives an average of 19.67 net tons to 

 the vessel, and an average of 2.5 dories to the vessel. 

 The catch of halibut by this fleet in 1904 amounted to 

 11,774,000 pounds, and this divided by 99, the total num- 

 ber or dories, gives an average per dory of 118,929 

 pounds. This catch brought the fishermen an average 

 of nearly 3 cents per pound for first grade fish. 



